Antenna panel capability determination and indication in wireless communications

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications provide for identification of multiple antenna panels at a user equipment (UE), and determination of panel-specific capabilities for the multiple antenna panels. A UE may determine whether simultaneous communications using two or more antenna panels is supported. The UE may determine that simultaneous communications using two or more antenna panels is supported based on a predetermined rule that indicates such simultaneous communications are supported or unsupported. Whether simultaneous communications on multiple panels is supported may be dependent upon a capability of the UE. The UE may transmit panel-specific capabilities to the base station, that may be used by the base station for subsequent communications between the UE and the base station.

CROSS REFERENCE

The present Application for patent claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/806,690 by ZHOU et al., entitled“ANTENNA PANEL CAPABILITY DETERMINATION AND INDICATION IN WIRELESSCOMMUNICATIONS,” filed Feb. 15, 2019, assigned to the assignee hereof,and expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and morespecifically to antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications.

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of suchmultiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such asLong Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, orLTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may bereferred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employtechnologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time divisionmultiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA),orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discreteFourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system mayinclude a number of base stations or network access nodes, eachsimultaneously supporting communication for multiple communicationdevices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).

In some cases, wireless devices (e.g., base stations, UEs, etc.) may usebeamformed or precoded signals for transmission and/or reception ofwireless communications. For example, a base station may utilizebeamformed or precoded transmissions to provide directionaltransmissions that may mitigate path losses that may be experienced bynon-beamformed or non-precoded transmissions which may have a relativelywide beam or omnidirectional transmission pattern. In some cases, a basestation and/or a UE may use two or more antenna panels to transmitbeams. In some cases different antenna panels at a UE may be associatedwith different beams that provide communications between the UE and abase station. Efficient techniques for managing beams from multipleantenna panels may help enhance reliability and efficiency of a networkutilizing beamforming.

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices,and apparatuses that support antenna panel capability determination andindication in wireless communications. Various described techniquesprovide for identification of multiple antenna panels at a userequipment (UE), and determination of panel-specific capabilities for themultiple antenna panels. In some cases, the UE may determine whethersimultaneous communications using two or more antenna panels issupported. In some cases, the UE may determine that simultaneouscommunications using two or more antenna panels is supported based on apredetermined rule that indicates such simultaneous communications aresupported or unsupported. In some cases, whether simultaneouscommunications on multiple panels is supported is dependent upon acapability of the UE. The UE may transmit panel-specific capabilities tothe base station, that may be used by the base station for subsequentcommunications between the UE and the base station.

In some cases, each of the multiple antenna panels has an associated setof beams that can be supported at the antenna panel, where differentbeams associated with a same antenna panel cannot support simultaneouscommunications. In some cases, a panel identification (ID) or virtualpanel ID may be associated with a set of beams that correspond to anumber of different reference signal resources, different referencesignal resource ports, different reference signal resource sets,different spatial relations (e.g., different beamforming directions),different spatial filters, or any combinations thereof. In some casesthe reference signals may include one or more of a sounding referencesignal (SRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), ademodulation reference signal (DMRS), or any combinations thereof. Insome cases, the panel-specific capabilities may indicate one or more ofa capability to support simultaneous communications using multiple beamson multiple panels, a number of spatial layers or ranks per beam orpanel, a maximum number of spatial layers or ranks supported across allbeams or panels, supported combinations of spatial layers or ranksacross beams or panels that support simultaneous communications, or anycombinations thereof.

A method of wireless communication at a UE is described. The method mayinclude identifying two or more antenna panels for communications with abase station, each antenna panel of the two or more antenna panelsconfigured to transmit a beam of an associated set of beams forcommunications with the base station, determining one or morepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels that areconfigurable for different panel-specific operations for thecommunications with the base station, and transmitting an indication tothe base station of the two or more antenna panels and associatedpanel-specific operations.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. Theapparatus may include a processor, memory in electronic communicationwith the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. Theinstructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatusto identify two or more antenna panels for communications with a basestation, each antenna panel of the two or more antenna panels configuredto transmit a beam of an associated set of beams for communications withthe base station, determine one or more panel-specific capabilities forthe two or more antenna panels that are configurable for differentpanel-specific operations for the communications with the base station,and transmit an indication to the base station of the two or moreantenna panels and associated panel-specific operations.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. Theapparatus may include means for identifying two or more antenna panelsfor communications with a base station, each antenna panel of the two ormore antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of an associated setof beams for communications with the base station, determining one ormore panel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels thatare configurable for different panel-specific operations for thecommunications with the base station, and transmitting an indication tothe base station of the two or more antenna panels and associatedpanel-specific operations.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a UE is described. The code may include instructionsexecutable by a processor to identify two or more antenna panels forcommunications with a base station, each antenna panel of the two ormore antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of an associated setof beams for communications with the base station, determine one or morepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels that areconfigurable for different panel-specific operations for thecommunications with the base station, and transmit an indication to thebase station of the two or more antenna panels and associatedpanel-specific operations.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the transmitting may includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting anindication that panel specific operation is supported and one or more ofa number of antenna panels, a number of beams in the associated set ofbeams per panel, a number of spatial layers associated with each beam orantenna panel, an indication of beam/panel combinations andcorresponding spatial layers, or any combinations thereof. In someexamples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the number of beams in eachset of beams correspond to a number of different reference signalresources, different reference signal resource ports, differentreference signal resource sets, different spatial relations, differentspatial filters, or any combinations thereof.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the determining may includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining thatsimultaneous communications using beams associated with differentantenna panels is supported based on one or more of a hardwareconfiguration of the UE, a predetermined rule for communications viamultiple antenna panels, or any combinations thereof. In some examplesof the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed herein, the transmitting may include operations, features,means, or instructions for transmitting, to the base station, anindication that simultaneous communications using beams associated withdifferent antenna panels is supported by the UE.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the indication thatsimultaneous communications using beams associated with differentantenna panels is supported by the UE includes one or more of anindication that any beams from any set of different panels supportsimultaneous communications, an indication that one or more antennapanels do not support simultaneous communications, an indication of anumber of panels that can support simultaneous communications andcorresponding panel identifications, an indication one or more subsetsof each set of beams that support simultaneous communications, or anycombinations thereof.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving configurationinformation from the base station that enables simultaneouscommunications via multiple antenna panels, and initiating a beamtraining procedure to determine beamforming parameters for a first beamassociated with a first antenna panel and a second beam associated witha second antenna panel that are to be used for simultaneouscommunications with the base station.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the determining may includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining that thehardware configuration of the UE does not support simultaneouscommunications via multiple antenna panels, and where the indicationtransmitted to the base station indicates that simultaneouscommunications using beams associated with different antenna panels isunsupported by the UE.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the determining may includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining a number ofsupported spatial layers for each antenna panel that supportssimultaneous communications and a maximum number of supported spatiallayers across all of the antenna panels that support simultaneouscommunications, and where the indication transmitted to the base stationindicates the number of supported spatial layers for each antenna paneland the maximum number supported spatial layers. In some examples of themethod, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed herein, the determining may include operations, features,means, or instructions for determining one or more combinations ofspatial layers across each supported combination of antenna panels thatsupport simultaneous communications, and a maximum number of supportedspatial layers across all of the antenna panels that supportsimultaneous communications, and where the indication transmitted to thebase station indicates the one or more combinations of spatial layersand the maximum number supported spatial layers. In some examples of themethod, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed herein, the determining and the transmitting may be performedseparately for each of two or more millimeter wave (mmW) frequencybands.

A method of wireless communication at a base station is described. Themethod may include identifying a UE that is to establish communicationswith the base station using two or more sets of beams associated withtwo or more antenna panels at the UE, receiving an indication from theUE that indicates the two or more antenna panels and one or moreassociated panel-specific operations of each of the two or more antennapanels, identifying, based on the indication from the UE, two or moreantenna panels for communications with a base station, each antennapanel of the two or more antenna panels configured to transmit a beam ofan associated set of beams for communications with the base station, andone or more panel-specific capabilities for the two or more antennapanels that are configurable for different panel-specific operations forcommunications with the UE, and establishing communications with the UEvia one or more beams using one or more of the antenna panels based onthe panel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described.The apparatus may include a processor, memory in electroniccommunication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory.The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause theapparatus to identify a UE that is to establish communications with thebase station using two or more sets of beams associated with two or moreantenna panels at the UE, receive an indication from the UE thatindicates the two or more antenna panels and one or more associatedpanel-specific operations of each of the two or more antenna panels,identify, based on the indication from the UE, two or more antennapanels for communications with a base station, each antenna panel of thetwo or more antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of anassociated set of beams for communications with the base station, andone or more panel-specific capabilities for the two or more antennapanels that are configurable for different panel-specific operations forcommunications with the UE, and establish communications with the UE viaone or more beams using one or more of the antenna panels based on thepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a base station isdescribed. The apparatus may include means for identifying a UE that isto establish communications with the base station using two or more setsof beams associated with two or more antenna panels at the UE, receivingan indication from the UE that indicates the two or more antenna panelsand one or more associated panel-specific operations of each of the twoor more antenna panels, identifying, based on the indication from theUE, two or more antenna panels for communications with a base station,each antenna panel of the two or more antenna panels configured totransmit a beam of an associated set of beams for communications withthe base station, and one or more panel-specific capabilities for thetwo or more antenna panels that are configurable for differentpanel-specific operations for communications with the UE, andestablishing communications with the UE via one or more beams using oneor more of the antenna panels based on the panel-specific capabilitiesfor the two or more antenna panels.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a base station is described. The code may includeinstructions executable by a processor to identify a UE that is toestablish communications with the base station using two or more sets ofbeams associated with two or more antenna panels at the UE, receive anindication from the UE that indicates the two or more antenna panels andone or more associated panel-specific operations of each of the two ormore antenna panels, identify, based on the indication from the UE, twoor more antenna panels for communications with a base station, eachantenna panel of the two or more antenna panels configured to transmit abeam of an associated set of beams for communications with the basestation, and one or more panel-specific capabilities for the two or moreantenna panels that are configurable for different panel-specificoperations for communications with the UE, and establish communicationswith the UE via one or more beams using one or more of the antennapanels based on the panel-specific capabilities for the two or moreantenna panels.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the receiving may includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving an indicationfrom the UE of one or more of a number of antenna panels, a number ofbeams in the associated set of beams per panel, a number of spatiallayers associated with each beam or antenna panel, an indication ofbeam/panel combinations and corresponding spatial layers, or anycombinations thereof. In some examples of the method, apparatuses, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the number ofbeams in each set of beams correspond to a number of different referencesignal resources, different reference signal resource ports, differentreference signal resource sets, different spatial relations, differentspatial filters, or any combinations thereof.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the receiving may includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving an indicationfrom the UE that simultaneous communications using beams associated withdifferent antenna panels is supported by the UE. In some examples of themethod, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed herein, the indication that simultaneous communications usingbeams associated with different antenna panels is supported by the UEincludes one or more of an indication that any beams from any set ofdifferent panels support simultaneous communications, an indication thatone or more antenna panels do not support simultaneous communications,an indication of a number of panels that can support simultaneouscommunications and corresponding panel identifications, an indicationone or more subsets of each set of beams that support simultaneouscommunications, or any combinations thereof.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmittingconfiguration information to the UE that enables simultaneouscommunications via multiple antenna panels, and initiating a beamtraining procedure to determine beamforming parameters for a first beamassociated with a first antenna panel and a second beam associated witha second antenna panel that are to be used for simultaneouscommunications with the base station.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the receiving may includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving an indicationfrom the UE that the UE does not support simultaneous communications viamultiple antenna panels.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the receiving may includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving an indicationfrom the UE of a number of supported spatial layers for each antennapanel that supports simultaneous communications and a maximum number ofsupported spatial layers across all of the antenna panels that supportsimultaneous communications. In some examples of the method,apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium describedherein, the receiving may include operations, features, means, orinstructions for receiving an indication from the UE of one or morecombinations of spatial layers across each supported combination ofantenna panels that support simultaneous communications and a maximumnumber of supported spatial layers across all of the antenna panels thatsupport simultaneous communications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system for wireless communicationsthat supports antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a portion of a wireless communicationssystem that supports antenna panel capability determination andindication in wireless communications in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an antenna panel configuration thatsupports antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an antenna module that supports antennapanel capability determination and indication in wireless communicationsin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a process flow that supports antennapanel capability determination and indication in wireless communicationsin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show block diagrams of devices that support antenna panelcapability determination and indication in wireless communications inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show block diagrams of devices that support antennapanel capability determination and indication in wireless communicationsin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 14 through 19 show flowcharts illustrating methods that supportantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods, systems,devices, and apparatuses that support antenna panel capabilitydetermination and indication in wireless communications. In someaspects, techniques are provided for identification of multiple antennapanels at a user equipment (UE), and determination of panel-specificcapabilities for the multiple antenna panels. In some cases, a UE mayhave multiple antenna elements configured as one or more antenna arraysor sub-arrays that may be located in one or more antenna modules. Agroup of antenna elements, which may include two or more antennaelements in one or more antenna arrays or sub-arrays may be referred toherein as an antenna panel, which may correspond to a physical antennapanel or hardware module at a UE or to a virtual antenna panel that mayinclude two or more antenna elements that are a subset of antennaelements at a physical antenna module or that span multiple antennamodules.

In some cases, the multiple antenna panels of a UE may each be suitablefor communications using certain transmission beams. For example, afirst antenna panel may be configured such that a first set of beams ina first direction may be transmitted or received using the associatedantenna elements, and a second antenna panel may be configured such thata second set of beams in a second direction may be transmitted orreceived using the associated antenna elements. In some cases, antennapanels may be identified based on the associated set of beams that maybe supported using antenna elements of the antenna panel. A UE may thusidentify multiple antenna panels according to the sets of beams that maybe transmitted or received. In some cases, a UE may be capable ofconcurrently transmitting or receiving beams using two or more antennapanels. In other cases, a UE may support only beams at a single antennapanel at a time. Such UE capability may depend upon a number ofdifferent factors, such as hardware configurations of the UE, processingcapabilities of the UE, available power at the UE, or any combinationsthereof. Various aspects of the present disclosure provide techniquesfor identification of UE antenna panels and panel-specific capabilities,and for providing an indication of panels and panel-specificcapabilities to a base station or other wireless communications devicethat the UE may communicate with.

In some cases, the UE may determine whether simultaneous communicationsusing two or more antenna panels is supported. In some cases, the UE maydetermine that simultaneous communications using two or more antennapanels is supported based on a predetermined rule that indicates suchsimultaneous communications are supported or unsupported. In some cases,whether simultaneous communications on multiple panels is supported isdependent upon a capability of the UE. In some cases, the UE maytransmit panel-specific capabilities to the base station, that may beused by the base station for subsequent communications between the UEand the base station.

In some cases, each of the multiple antenna panels has an associated setof beams that can be supported at the antenna panel, where differentbeams associated with a same antenna panel cannot be simultaneouslycommunicated by a single panel. In some cases, a panel identification(ID) or virtual panel ID may be associated with a set of beams thatcorrespond to a number of different reference signal resources,different reference signal resource ports, different reference signalresource sets, different spatial relations (e.g., different beamformingdirections), different spatial filters, or any combinations thereof. Insome cases the reference signals may include one or more of a soundingreference signal (SRS), a channel state information reference signal(CSI-RS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or any combinationsthereof. In some cases, the panel-specific capabilities may indicate oneor more of a capability to support simultaneous communications usingmultiple beams on multiple panels, a number of spatial layers or ranksper beam or panel, a maximum number of spatial layers or ranks supportedacross all beams or panels, supported combinations of spatial layers orranks across beams or panels that support simultaneous communications,or any combinations thereof.

Techniques such as described in various aspects of the disclosure mayallow a base station and a UE to identify and configure beams to provideefficient beamformed communications between the UE and the base station.In some cases, the UE and base station may establish one or more beampair links (BPLs) that may be used for communications between the UE andthe base station. In some cases, uplink transmission beams that aretransmitted by the UE may be quasi co-located (QCL) with downlinktransmissions beams that are transmitted by the base station to the UE(e.g., uplink and downlink beamforming parameters may be determinedbased on beam reciprocity). In other cases, an uplink beam of the UE maynot be QCL with the downlink beam of the base station, and transmissionbeams in such cases may be referred to as decoupled beams. Decoupledbeams may result, for example, from interference that may be present atan uplink beam but not a downlink beam (e.g., an obstructed UE antennapanel used for uplink transmissions, an interfering device in proximityto the UE, etc.), maximum permissible exposure (MPE) limits associatedwith a particular uplink beam or antenna panel at the UE, availablepower that may be used for an uplink transmission, or any combinationsthereof.

In some cases, the base station may configure different sets ofreference signals that are associated with the different beams. Forexample, a first uplink beam of a first antenna panel may have anassociated first set of reference signals, and a second uplink beam of asecond antenna panel may have an associated second set of referencesignals that is different than the first set of reference signals. Insome cases, one or more beamforming parameters of the first uplink beamand the second uplink beam may be based at least in part on measurementsof the associated first set of reference signals and second set ofreference signals made at the UE or at the base station. Thus, in somecases, an antenna panel may be identified based on reference signals,reference signal resources, or reference signal resource sets ofreference signals that may be received or transmitted by the antennapanel.

In some cases, antenna panels at a UE may correspond to a hardwareantenna module having a number of physical antenna elements that may beused to form beams for the associated reference signals, referencesignal resources, or reference signal resource sets. In some cases, twoor more virtual antenna panels may be identified at a UE, where eachvirtual panel may include one or more antenna elements on a samephysical antenna module (e.g., one antenna module may have all or aportion of the antenna elements for two or more virtual panels) or ondifferent physical antenna modules (e.g., a virtual panel may includeantenna elements that are located on two or more physical antennamodules). In some cases, a single antenna module may have one or moreantenna elements that are associated with a first virtual antenna panel,and may have one or more other antenna elements that are associated witha second virtual antenna panel.

Techniques as discussed herein may thus provide for efficientidentification of antenna panels and indications of panel-specificcapabilities of a UE. A base station may identify the panel-specificcapabilities of one or more UEs, and may allocate resources on one ormore beams in accordance with the UE capabilities. Such techniques maythus enhance the efficiency and reliability of a wireless communicationssystem through more efficient beamformed communications.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of awireless communications system. Examples of antenna panels and modulesare then provided in accordance with some aspects of the disclosure.Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described withreference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts thatrelate to antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100that supports antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The wireless communications system 100 includes basestations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, thewireless communications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE)network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a NewRadio (NR) network. In some cases, wireless communications system 100may support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable (e.g.,mission critical) communications, low latency communications, orcommunications with low-cost and low-complexity devices.

Base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate with UEs 115 via one ormore base station antennas. Base stations 105 described herein mayinclude or may be referred to by those skilled in the art as a basetransceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radiotransceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB orgiga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB,a Home eNodeB, or some other suitable terminology. Wirelesscommunications system 100 may include base stations 105 of differenttypes (e.g., macro or small cell base stations). The UEs 115 describedherein may be able to communicate with various types of base stations105 and network equipment including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, gNBs,relay base stations, and the like.

Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographiccoverage area 110 in which communications with various UEs 115 issupported. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage fora respective geographic coverage area 110 via communication links 125,and communication links 125 between a base station 105 and a UE 115 mayutilize one or more carriers. Communication links 125 shown in wirelesscommunications system 100 may include uplink transmissions from a UE 115to a base station 105, or downlink transmissions from a base station 105to a UE 115. Downlink transmissions may also be called forward linktransmissions while uplink transmissions may also be called reverse linktransmissions.

The geographic coverage area 110 for a base station 105 may be dividedinto sectors making up a portion of the geographic coverage area 110,and each sector may be associated with a cell. For example, each basestation 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a smallcell, a hot spot, or other types of cells, or various combinationsthereof. In some examples, a base station 105 may be movable andtherefore provide communication coverage for a moving geographiccoverage area 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas110 associated with different technologies may overlap, and overlappinggeographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies maybe supported by the same base station 105 or by different base stations105. The wireless communications system 100 may include, for example, aheterogeneous LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro or NR network in which different typesof base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverageareas 110.

The term “cell” refers to a logical communication entity used forcommunication with a base station 105 (e.g., over a carrier), and may beassociated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells(e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier(VCID)) operating via the same or a different carrier. In some examples,a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may beconfigured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-typecommunication (MTC), narrowband Internet-of-Things (NB-IoT), enhancedmobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access fordifferent types of devices. In some cases, the term “cell” may refer toa portion of a geographic coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) over whichthe logical entity operates.

UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the wireless communications system100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also bereferred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, ahandheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitableterminology, where the “device” may also be referred to as a unit, astation, a terminal, or a client. A UE 115 may also be a personalelectronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. Insome examples, a UE 115 may also refer to a wireless local loop (WLL)station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything(IoE) device, or an MTC device, or the like, which may be implemented invarious articles such as appliances, vehicles, meters, or the like.

Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low cost or lowcomplexity devices, and may provide for automated communication betweenmachines (e.g., via Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication). M2Mcommunication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies thatallow devices to communicate with one another or a base station 105without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTCmay include communications from devices that integrate sensors or metersto measure or capture information and relay that information to acentral server or application program that can make use of theinformation or present the information to humans interacting with theprogram or application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collectinformation or enable automated behavior of machines. Examples ofapplications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventorymonitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcaremonitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological eventmonitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing,physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes that reducepower consumption, such as half-duplex communications (e.g., a mode thatsupports one-way communication via transmission or reception, but nottransmission and reception simultaneously). In some examples half-duplexcommunications may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other powerconservation techniques for UEs 115 include entering a power saving“deep sleep” mode when not engaging in active communications, oroperating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowbandcommunications). In some cases, UEs 115 may be designed to supportcritical functions (e.g., mission critical functions), and a wirelesscommunications system 100 may be configured to provide ultra-reliablecommunications for these functions.

In some cases, a UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly withother UEs 115 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or device-to-device(D2D) protocol). One or more of a group of UEs 115 utilizing D2Dcommunications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a basestation 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outside the geographiccoverage area 110 of a base station 105, or be otherwise unable toreceive transmissions from a base station 105. In some cases, groups ofUEs 115 communicating via D2D communications may utilize a one-to-many(1:M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to every other UE 115 in thegroup. In some cases, a base station 105 facilitates the scheduling ofresources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communications arecarried out between UEs 115 without the involvement of a base station105.

Base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130 and with oneanother. For example, base stations 105 may interface with the corenetwork 130 through backhaul links 132 (e.g., via an S1, N2, N3, orother interface). Base stations 105 may communicate with one anotherover backhaul links 134 (e.g., via an X2, Xn, or other interface) eitherdirectly (e.g., directly between base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g.,via core network 130).

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, accessauthorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and otheraccess, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be anevolved packet core (EPC), which may include at least one mobilitymanagement entity (MME), at least one serving gateway (S-GW), and atleast one Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW). The MME may managenon-access stratum (e.g., control plane) functions such as mobility,authentication, and bearer management for UEs 115 served by basestations 105 associated with the EPC. User IP packets may be transferredthrough the S-GW, which itself may be connected to the P-GW. The P-GWmay provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The P-GWmay be connected to the network operators IP services. The operators IPservices may include access to the Internet, Intranet(s), an IPMultimedia Subsystem (IMS), or a Packet-Switched (PS) Streaming Service.

At least some of the network devices, such as a base station 105, mayinclude subcomponents such as an access network entity, which may be anexample of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entitymay communicate with UEs 115 through a number of other access networktransmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio head, a smartradio head, or a transmission/reception point (TRP). In someconfigurations, various functions of each access network entity or basestation 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g.,radio heads and access network controllers) or consolidated into asingle network device (e.g., a base station 105).

Wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or morefrequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300gigahertz (GHz). Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known asthe ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band, since thewavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter inlength. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings andenvironmental features. However, the waves may penetrate structuressufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to UEs 115 locatedindoors. Transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smallerantennas and shorter range (e.g., less than 100 km) compared totransmission using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the highfrequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrumbelow 300 MHz.

Wireless communications system 100 may also operate in a super highfrequency (SHF) region using frequency bands from 3 GHz to 30 GHz, alsoknown as the centimeter band. The SHF region includes bands such as the5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands, which may be usedopportunistically by devices that may be capable of toleratinginterference from other users.

Wireless communications system 100 may also operate in an extremely highfrequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz),also known as the millimeter band. In some examples, wirelesscommunications system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW)communications between UEs 115 and base stations 105, and EHF antennasof the respective devices may be even smaller and more closely spacedthan UHF antennas. In some cases, this may facilitate use of antennaarrays within a UE 115. However, the propagation of EHF transmissionsmay be subject to even greater atmospheric attenuation and shorter rangethan SHF or UHF transmissions. Techniques disclosed herein may beemployed across transmissions that use one or more different frequencyregions, and designated use of bands across these frequency regions maydiffer by country or regulating body.

In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may utilize bothlicensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example,wireless communications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access(LAA), LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technologyin an unlicensed band such as the 5 GHz ISM band. When operating inunlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands, wireless devices such as basestations 105 and UEs 115 may employ listen-before-talk (LBT) proceduresto ensure a frequency channel is clear before transmitting data. In somecases, operations in unlicensed bands may be based on a carrieraggregation configuration in conjunction with component carriersoperating in a licensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in unlicensedspectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions,peer-to-peer transmissions, or a combination of these. Duplexing inunlicensed spectrum may be based on frequency division duplexing (FDD),time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination of both.

In some examples, base station 105 or UE 115 may be equipped withmultiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such astransmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) communications, or beamforming. For example, wirelesscommunications system 100 may use a transmission scheme between atransmitting device (e.g., a base station 105) and a receiving device(e.g., a UE 115), where the transmitting device is equipped withmultiple antennas and the receiving device is equipped with one or moreantennas. MIMO communications may employ multipath signal propagation toincrease the spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiplesignals via different spatial layers, which may be referred to asspatial multiplexing. The multiple signals may, for example, betransmitted by the transmitting device via different antennas ordifferent combinations of antennas. Likewise, the multiple signals maybe received by the receiving device via different antennas or differentcombinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referredto as a separate spatial stream, and may carry bits associated with thesame data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams.Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna portsused for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO techniques includesingle-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) where multiple spatial layers are transmittedto the same receiving device, and multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) wheremultiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple devices.

Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering,directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signalprocessing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or areceiving device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) to shape orsteer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or receive beam) along aspatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device.Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated viaantenna elements of an antenna array such that signals propagating atparticular orientations with respect to an antenna array experienceconstructive interference while others experience destructiveinterference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antennaelements may include a transmitting device or a receiving deviceapplying certain amplitude and phase offsets to signals carried via eachof the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustmentsassociated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by abeamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g.,with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device orreceiving device, or with respect to some other orientation).

In one example, a base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antennaarrays to conduct beamforming operations for directional communicationswith a UE 115. For instance, some signals (e.g. synchronization signals,reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) maybe transmitted by a base station 105 multiple times in differentdirections, which may include a signal being transmitted according todifferent beamforming weight sets associated with different directionsof transmission. Transmissions in different beam directions may be usedto identify (e.g., by the base station 105 or a receiving device, suchas a UE 115) a beam direction for subsequent transmission and/orreception by the base station 105.

Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particularreceiving device, may be transmitted by a base station 105 in a singlebeam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device,such as a UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated withtransmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based atleast in in part on a signal that was transmitted in different beamdirections. For example, a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signalstransmitted by the base station 105 in different directions, and the UE115 may report to the base station 105 an indication of the signal itreceived with a highest signal quality, or an otherwise acceptablesignal quality. Although these techniques are described with referenceto signals transmitted in one or more directions by a base station 105,a UE 115 may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multipletimes in different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam directionfor subsequent transmission or reception by the UE 115), or transmittinga signal in a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to areceiving device).

A receiving device (e.g., a UE 115, which may be an example of a mmWreceiving device) may try multiple receive beams when receiving varioussignals from the base station 105, such as synchronization signals,reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. Forexample, a receiving device may try multiple receive directions byreceiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing receivedsignals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving accordingto different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals receivedat a plurality of antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processingreceived signals according to different receive beamforming weight setsapplied to signals received at a plurality of antenna elements of anantenna array, any of which may be referred to as “listening” accordingto different receive beams or receive directions. In some examples areceiving device may use a single receive beam to receive along a singlebeam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The single receivebeam may be aligned in a beam direction determined based at least inpart on listening according to different receive beam directions (e.g.,a beam direction determined to have a highest signal strength, highestsignal-to-noise ratio, or otherwise acceptable signal quality based atleast in part on listening according to multiple beam directions).

In some cases, the antennas of a base station 105 or UE 115 may belocated within one or more antenna arrays, which may support MIMOoperations, or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or morebase station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antennaassembly, such as an antenna tower. In some cases, antennas or antennaarrays associated with a base station 105 may be located in diversegeographic locations. A base station 105 may have an antenna array witha number of rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105may use to support beamforming of communications with a UE 115.Likewise, a UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that may supportvarious MIMO or beamforming operations.

In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may be a packet-basednetwork that operate according to a layered protocol stack. In the userplane, communications at the bearer or Packet Data Convergence Protocol(PDCP) layer may be IP-based. A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer mayperform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logicalchannels. A Medium Access Control (MAC) layer may perform priorityhandling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels.The MAC layer may also use hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) toprovide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. Inthe control plane, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol layer mayprovide establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRCconnection between a UE 115 and a base station 105 or core network 130supporting radio bearers for user plane data. At the Physical layer,transport channels may be mapped to physical channels.

In some cases, UEs 115 and base stations 105 may support retransmissionsof data to increase the likelihood that data is received successfully.HARQ feedback is one technique of increasing the likelihood that data isreceived correctly over a communication link 125. HARQ may include acombination of error detection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check(CRC)), forward error correction (FEC), and retransmission (e.g.,automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ may improve throughput at the MAClayer in poor radio conditions (e.g., signal-to-noise conditions). Insome cases, a wireless device may support same-slot HARQ feedback, wherethe device may provide HARQ feedback in a specific slot for datareceived in a previous symbol in the slot. In other cases, the devicemay provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent slot, or according to someother time interval.

Time intervals in LTE or NR may be expressed in multiples of a basictime unit, which may, for example, refer to a sampling period ofTs=1/30,720,000 seconds. Time intervals of a communications resource maybe organized according to radio frames each having a duration of 10milliseconds (ms), where the frame period may be expressed asT_(f)=307,200 Ts. The radio frames may be identified by a system framenumber (SFN) ranging from 0 to 1023. Each frame may include 10 subframesnumbered from 0 to 9, and each subframe may have a duration of 1 ms. Asubframe may be further divided into 2 slots each having a duration of0.5 ms, and each slot may contain 6 or 7 modulation symbol periods(e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended to eachsymbol period). Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period maycontain 2048 sampling periods. In some cases, a subframe may be thesmallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100, andmay be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In othercases, a smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system100 may be shorter than a subframe or may be dynamically selected (e.g.,in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs) or in selected component carriersusing sTTIs).

In some wireless communications systems, a slot may further be dividedinto multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols. In someinstances, a symbol of a mini-slot or a mini-slot may be the smallestunit of scheduling. Each symbol may vary in duration depending on thesubcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation, for example. Further,some wireless communications systems may implement slot aggregation inwhich multiple slots or mini-slots are aggregated together and used forcommunication between a UE 115 and a base station 105.

The term “carrier” refers to a set of radio frequency spectrum resourceshaving a defined physical layer structure for supporting communicationsover a communication link 125. For example, a carrier of a communicationlink 125 may include a portion of a radio frequency spectrum band thatis operated according to physical layer channels for a given radioaccess technology. Each physical layer channel may carry user data,control information, or other signaling. A carrier may be associatedwith a pre-defined frequency channel (e.g., an evolved universal mobiletelecommunication system terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) absoluteradio frequency channel number (EARFCN)), and may be positionedaccording to a channel raster for discovery by UEs 115. Carriers may bedownlink or uplink (e.g., in an FDD mode), or be configured to carrydownlink and uplink communications (e.g., in a TDD mode). In someexamples, signal waveforms transmitted over a carrier may be made up ofmultiple sub-carriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM)techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ordiscrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)).

The organizational structure of the carriers may be different fordifferent radio access technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR).For example, communications over a carrier may be organized according toTTIs or slots, each of which may include user data as well as controlinformation or signaling to support decoding the user data. A carriermay also include dedicated acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronizationsignals or system information, etc.) and control signaling thatcoordinates operation for the carrier. In some examples (e.g., in acarrier aggregation configuration), a carrier may also have acquisitionsignaling or control signaling that coordinates operations for othercarriers.

Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to varioustechniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel maybe multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using time divisionmultiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM)techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. In some examples, controlinformation transmitted in a physical control channel may be distributedbetween different control regions in a cascaded manner (e.g., between acommon control region or common search space and one or more UE-specificcontrol regions or UE-specific search spaces).

A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the radiofrequency spectrum, and in some examples the carrier bandwidth may bereferred to as a “system bandwidth” of the carrier or the wirelesscommunications system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be oneof a number of predetermined bandwidths for carriers of a particularradio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 MHz). Insome examples, each served UE 115 may be configured for operating overportions or all of the carrier bandwidth. In other examples, some UEs115 may be configured for operation using a narrowband protocol typethat is associated with a predefined portion or range (e.g., set ofsubcarriers or RBs) within a carrier (e.g., “in-band” deployment of anarrowband protocol type).

In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may consist ofone symbol period (e.g., a duration of one modulation symbol) and onesubcarrier, where the symbol period and subcarrier spacing are inverselyrelated. The number of bits carried by each resource element may dependon the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme).Thus, the more resource elements that a UE 115 receives and the higherthe order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate may be forthe UE 115. In MIMO systems, a wireless communications resource mayrefer to a combination of a radio frequency spectrum resource, a timeresource, and a spatial resource (e.g., spatial layers), and the use ofmultiple spatial layers may further increase the data rate forcommunications with a UE 115.

Devices of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., base stations105 or UEs 115) may have a hardware configuration that supportscommunications over a particular carrier bandwidth, or may beconfigurable to support communications over one of a set of carrierbandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 mayinclude base stations 105 and/or UEs 115 that support simultaneouscommunications via carriers associated with more than one differentcarrier bandwidth.

Wireless communications system 100 may support communication with a UE115 on multiple cells or carriers, a feature which may be referred to ascarrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may beconfigured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or moreuplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregationconfiguration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both FDD and TDDcomponent carriers.

In some cases, a UE 115 may have two or more antenna panels that may beused for beamformed communications. Such UEs 115, in some cases, mayidentify multiple antenna panels, and determination of panel-specificcapabilities for the multiple antenna panels. In some cases, the UE 115may determine whether simultaneous communications using two or moreantenna panels is supported (e.g., based on a predetermined rule thatindicates such simultaneous communications are supported or unsupported,a capability of the UE 115, a configuration of a serving base station105, or any combinations thereof). In some cases, the UE 115 maytransmit panel-specific capabilities to the base station 105, that maybe used by the base station 105 and UE 115 for subsequent beamformedcommunications.

In some cases, each of the multiple antenna panels has an associated setof beams that can be supported at the antenna panel, where differentbeams associated with a same antenna panel cannot support simultaneouscommunications (e.g., due to hardware constraints of the antenna panel).In some cases, a panel ID (or virtual panel ID) may be associated with aset of beams that correspond to a number of different reference signalresources, different reference signal resource ports, differentreference signal resource sets, different spatial relations (e.g.,different beamforming directions), different spatial filters, or anycombinations thereof. In some cases the reference signals may includeone or more of an SRS, a CSI-RS, a DMRS, or any combinations thereof. Insome cases, the panel-specific capabilities may indicate one or more ofa capability to support simultaneous communications using multiple beamson multiple panels, a number of spatial layers or ranks per beam orpanel, a maximum number of spatial layers or ranks supported across allbeams or panels, supported combinations of spatial layers or ranksacross beams or panels that support simultaneous communications, or anycombinations thereof.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a portion of a wireless communicationssystem 200 that supports antenna panel capability determination andindication in wireless communications in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. In some examples, wireless communications system 200may implement aspects of wireless communications system 100. In theexample of FIG. 2, wireless communications system 200 may include basestation 105-a and UE 115-a, which may be examples of the correspondingdevices described with respect to FIG. 1. Base station 105-a may providenetwork coverage for geographic coverage area 110-a. The base station105-a may transmit beamformed communications using downlink beams 215,which may include a first downlink beam 215-a, a second downlink beam215-b, one or more other downlink beams, or combinations thereof. The UE115-a may transmit uplink communications to the base station 105-a usinga first uplink beam 205, a second uplink beam 210, one or more otheruplink beams, or any combinations thereof.

To support MIMO communications between base station 105-a and UE 115-a,UE 115-a may transmit capability/panel information 230 to base station105-a on an uplink channel 220. For example, UE 115-a may transmit anindication of a number of antenna panels, whether the UE 115 supportssimultaneous communications on multiple panels, and the like. In somecases, the base station 105-a may transmit configuration information 235to the UE 115-a on a downlink channel 225. For example, the base station105-a may transmit a beamforming configuration for beamformedcommunications using one or more antenna panels 240 at the UE 115-a.

In this example, UE 115-a has a number (n) of antenna panels 240, whichinclude a first antenna panel 240-a, a second antenna panel 240-b, andan nth antenna panel 240-n, that may each include a number of antennaelements 245. In some cases, the multiple antenna panels 240 may each besuitable for communications using certain transmission beams. Forexample the first antenna panel 240-a may have a configuration thatsupports transmissions and receptions in accordance with beamformingparameters of the first uplink beam 205, and one or more other uplinkbeams that have similar beamforming parameters or beam direction withina certain range of the first uplink beam 205. Likewise, the secondantenna panel 240-b may have a configuration that supportscommunications using a number of different transmission beams.

In some cases, antenna panels 240 may be identified based on theassociated set of beams that may be supported using antenna elements 245of the antenna panel 240. The UE may thus identify multiple antennapanels 240 according to the sets of beams that may be transmitted orreceived. The identification of multiple antenna panels 240, as well aspanel-specific capabilities associated with the identified antennapanels 240, are described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an antenna panel configuration 300 thatsupports antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, antenna panel configuration 300 mayimplement aspects of wireless communications system 100 or 200. In thisexample, a first antenna panel 305-a may include a number of antennaelements 310, and an nth antenna panel 305-n may include a number ofantenna elements 310. Antenna panels 305 may be examples of antennapanels 240 of FIG. 2, for example, or examples of an antenna module 400of FIG. 4. In some cases, antenna panels 305 may be virtual panels oftwo or more antenna elements 310 of one or more physical antenna module.In this example, the first antenna panel 305-a may supportcommunications on a first set of beams 315, and the nth antenna panel305-n may support communications on an nth set of beams 320, where beamsof the different sets of beams do not overlap. The first set of beams315 and the nth set of beams 320 may be analog beams transmitted in mmWfrequencies, in some cases.

In some cases, each antenna panel 305 may have a panel ID that can beused at least for indicating panel-specific uplink transmissioninformation. For example, a base station may configure uplinkcommunications using a beam associated with a particular panel ID. Asdiscussed herein, in some cases antenna panels 305 may be identifiedbased on the set of beams 315 or 320 that may be supported at theparticular antenna panel 305. In some cases, the set of beams, and thusthe panel ID, may be provided by an SRS resource set ID, an ID which isdirectly associated to a reference signal resource and/or resource set,an ID which can be assigned for a target reference signal resource orresource set, an ID which is configured in spatial relation informationof the UE, or any combinations thereof. In some cases, the referencesignals used to determine panel IDs may be an SRS, CSI-RS, a DMRS, orany other reference signal that may be used in communications between aUE and a base station.

In some cases, the antenna panel 305 (or virtual panel) associated witheach panel ID may have a number of behaviors. In some cases, suchbehaviors may include that beams associated with some panels may not betransmitted simultaneously (e.g., due to hardware constraints at theassociated panel). In some cases, the beams per panel can correspond todifferent reference signal resources, reference signal resource ports,reference signal resource sets, spatial relations, spatial filters,etc., or any combinations thereof.

In some cases, whether beams associated with different antenna panels305 may be transmitted simultaneously may be specified by a rule in aspecification or indicated by a UE capability. In some cases, two ormore beams may be transmitted simultaneously, and any beams associatedwith different antenna panels 305 may be transmitted simultaneously. Inother cases, any beams associated with different antenna panels 305 maynot be transmitted simultaneously. In other cases, beams associated withdifferent antenna panels 305 may or may not be transmittedsimultaneously, and whether such beams are transmitted simultaneouslymay be configurable. Further, in some cases, for any two or more antennapanels 305, certain sets of beams may be transmitted simultaneously. Forexample, the first set of beams 315 may be transmitted simultaneouslywith the nth set of beams 320, but may not be transmitted simultaneouslywith a third set of beams of a third antenna panel (e.g., due tohardware constraints, interference between beams of different panels,etc.). In some cases, one or more subsets of beams of a particularantenna panel 305 may or may not be transmitted simultaneously with oneor more sets or subsets of beams of another antenna panel 305.Additionally, in some cases, a maximum supported number of spatiallayers or ranks per beam/panel may be a fixed value or dependent on UEcapability. For example, if beams per panel correspond to differentreference signals resources, the maximum number of reference signalresource ports per resource/beam may be a fixed value (e.g., 1, 2, 4) ordepend on UE capability.

In some cases, the UE may provide information to the base station on theUE capabilities related to panel specific operation. In some cases, theUE may indicate whether panel-specific operation is supported orunsupported. In cases where panel-specific operation is unsupported, thepanel ID may not be used, and beamforming parameters may be configuredfor a single panel. In cases where panel-specific operation issupported, the UE may provide an indication of parameters/capabilitiesfor panel related operation. For example, the UE may provide anindication of one or more of a number of panels, a number of beams perpanel, a number of spatial layers per beam/panel, combinations ofbeams/panels and corresponding spatial layers, or any combinationsthereof. As discussed herein, the beams per panel may correspond todifferent reference signal resources, reference signal resource ports,reference signal resource sets, spatial relations, spatial filters, etc.In some cases, panel-specific operation may be implicitly indicated by acapability to support SRS resources for uplink beam management.

In some cases, the UE may provide an indication of whether beamsassociated with different panels may be transmitted simultaneously. Insome cases, the UE may indicate any beams from any set of differentpanels may or may not be transmitted simultaneously. In some cases, theUE can indicate a supported number of panels that support simultaneouscommunications and corresponding panel IDs. In some cases, for a givenpair of panels, the UE may indicate a set of beams of one panel that maybe transmitted simultaneously with a set of beams of another panel,where the set can be the whole set or a subset of beams per panel.

In some cases, the UE may provide an indication of a maximum and/or eachsupported number of spatial layers/ranks per beam/panel. For example, ifbeams per panel correspond to different reference signal resources, theUE may indicate a maximum number of reference signal resource ports perresource/beam, where the reference signal resource includes an SRSresource, CSI-RS resource, or any combination thereof.

In some cases, the UE may indicate supported combinations of a number ofspatial layers/ranks across each supported number of simultaneouslytransmitted panels, as well as a maximum supported total number ofspatial layers/ranks. For example, if the UE supports a maximum rank of2, supported rank combinations may include 1+1, 2+0, 0+2, in case of 2panels. In other examples, if the UE supports maximum rank of four,supported rank combinations may additionally include 2+2, 4+0, 0+4, 3+1,1+3, in case of 2 panels. In some cases, the UE can indicate panelrelated capabilities separately for different frequency bands (e.g., 28& 60 GHz).

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an antenna module 400 that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Insome examples, antenna module 400 may implement aspects of wirelesscommunications systems 100 or 200, as described with reference to FIGS.1 and 2. In some examples, antenna module 400 may be an example of anantenna panel 240 or 305 of FIGS. 2 and 3. In some examples, antennamodule 400 may be incorporated in a transmitting device or a receivingdevice (e.g., a UE or a base station), as described herein.

Broadly, FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating example hardware components ofa wireless device in accordance with certain aspects of the disclosure.The illustrated components may include those that may be used forantenna element selection and/or for beamforming for transmission ofwireless signals. Further, some components illustrated in FIG. 4 (e.g.,modem, communications manager, oscillators, etc.) may be shared with oneor more other antenna modules that may be included in a transmittingdevice or a receiving device. It is noted that there are numerousarchitectures for antenna element selection and implementingbeamforming, only one example of which is illustrated here. The antennamodule 400 includes a modem (modulator/demodulator) 402, a digital toanalog converter (DAC) 405, a first mixer 406, a second mixer 408, and asplitter 410. The antenna module 400 also includes a plurality of firstamplifiers 412, a plurality of phase shifters 415, a plurality of secondamplifiers 416, and an antenna array 418 that includes a plurality ofantenna elements 420. Transmission lines or other waveguides, wires,traces, or the like are shown connecting the various components toillustrate how signals to be transmitted may travel between components.Boxes 422, 425, 426, and 428 indicate regions in the antenna module 400in which different types of signals travel or are processed.Specifically, box 422 indicates a region in which digital basebandsignals travel or are processed, box 425 indicates a region in whichanalog baseband signals travel or are processed, box 426 indicates aregion in which analog intermediate frequency (IF) signals travel or areprocessed, and box 428 indicates a region in which analog radiofrequency (RF) signals travel or are processed. The architecture alsoincludes a local oscillator A 430, a local oscillator B 432, and acommunications manager 435.

Each of the antenna elements 420 may include one or more sub-elementsfor radiating or receiving RF signals. For example, a single antennaelement 420 may include a first sub-element cross-polarized with asecond sub-element that can be used to independently transmitcross-polarized signals (e.g., in different ranks or layers). Theantenna elements 420 may include patch antennas or other types ofantennas arranged in a linear, two dimensional, or other pattern. Aspacing between antenna elements 420 may be such that signals with adesired wavelength transmitted separately by the antenna elements 420may interact or interfere (e.g., to form a desired beam). For example,given an expected range of wavelengths or frequencies, the spacing mayprovide a quarter wavelength, half wavelength, or other fraction of awavelength of spacing between neighboring antenna elements 420 to allowfor interaction or interference of signals transmitted by the separateantenna elements 420 within that expected range.

The modem 402 processes and generates digital baseband signals and mayalso control operation of the DAC 405, first and second mixers 406, 408,splitter 410, first amplifiers 412, phase shifters 415, and/or thesecond amplifiers 416 to transmit signals via one or more or all of theantenna elements 420. The modem 402 may process signals and controloperation in accordance with a communication standard such as a wirelessstandard discussed herein. The DAC 405 may convert digital basebandsignals received from the modem 402 (and that are to be transmitted)into analog baseband signals. The first mixer 406 upconverts analogbaseband signals to analog IF signals within an IF using a localoscillator A 430. For example, the first mixer 406 may mix the signalswith an oscillating signal generated by the local oscillator A 430 to“move” the baseband analog signals to the IF. In some cases someprocessing or filtering may take place at the IF. The second mixer 408upconverts the analog IF signals to analog RF signals using the localoscillator B 432. Similarly to the first mixer, the second mixer 408 maymix the signals with an oscillating signal generated by the localoscillator B 432 to “move” the IF analog signals to the RF, or thefrequency at which signals will be transmitted or received. The modem402 and/or the communications manager 435 may adjust the frequency oflocal oscillator A 430 and/or the local oscillator B 432 so that adesired IF and/or RF frequency is produced and used to facilitateprocessing and transmission of a signal within a desired bandwidth.

In the illustrated antenna module 400, signals upconverted by the secondmixer 408 are split or duplicated into multiple signals by the splitter410. The splitter 410 in antenna module 400 splits the RF signal into aplurality of identical or nearly identical RF signals, as denoted by itspresence in box 428. In other examples, the split may take place withany type of signal including with baseband digital, baseband analog, orIF analog signals. Each of these signals may correspond to an antennaelement 420 and the signal travels through and is processed byamplifiers 412, 416, phase shifters 415, and/or other elementscorresponding to the respective antenna element 420 to be provided toand transmitted by the corresponding antenna element 420 of the antennaarray 418. In one example, the splitter 410 may be an active splitterthat is connected to a power supply and provides some gain so that RFsignals exiting the splitter 410 are at a power level equal to orgreater than the signal entering the splitter 410. In another example,the splitter 410 is a passive splitter that is not connected to powersupply and the RF signals exiting the splitter 410 may be at a powerlevel lower than the RF signal entering the splitter 410.

After being split by the splitter 410, the resulting RF signals mayenter an amplifier, such as a first amplifier 412, or a phase shifter415 corresponding to an antenna element 420. The first amplifier 412 andsecond amplifier 416 are illustrated with dashed lines because one orboth of them might not be used in some implementations. In oneimplementation, both the first amplifier 412 and second amplifier 416are present. In another, neither the first amplifier 412 nor the secondamplifier 416 is present. In other implementations, one of the twoamplifiers 412, 416 is present but not the other. By way of example, ifthe splitter 410 is an active splitter, the first amplifier 412 may notbe used. By way of further example, if the phase shifter 415 is anactive phase shifter that can provide a gain, the second amplifier 416might not be used. The amplifiers 412, 416 may provide a desired levelof positive or negative gain. A positive gain (positive dB) may be usedto increase an amplitude of a signal for radiation by a specific antennaelement 420. A negative gain (negative dB) may be used to decrease anamplitude and/or suppress radiation of the signal by a specific antennaelement. Each of the amplifiers 412, 416 may be controlled independently(e.g., by the modem 402 or communications manager 435) to provideindependent control of the gain for each antenna element 420. Forexample, the modem 402 and/or the communications manager 435 may have atleast one control line connected to each of the splitter 410, firstamplifiers 412, phase shifters 415, and/or second amplifiers 416 whichmay be used to configure a gain to provide a desired amount of gain foreach component and thus each antenna element 420.

The phase shifter 415 may provide a configurable phase shift or phaseoffset to a corresponding RF signal to be transmitted. The phase shifter415 could be a passive phase shifter not directly connected to a powersupply. Passive phase shifters might introduce some insertion loss. Thesecond amplifier 416 could boost the signal to compensate for theinsertion loss. The phase shifter 415 could be an active phase shifterconnected to a power supply such that the active phase shifter providessome amount of gain or prevents insertion loss. The settings of each ofthe phase shifters 415 are independent meaning that each can be set toprovide a desired amount of phase shift or the same amount of phaseshift or some other configuration. The modem 402 and/or thecommunications manager 435 may have at least one control line connectedto each of the phase shifters 415 and which may be used to configure thephase shifters 415 to provide a desired amounts of phase shift or phaseoffset between antenna elements 420.

In the illustrated antenna module 400, RF signals received by theantenna elements 420 are provided to one or more of first amplifier 456to boost the signal strength. The first amplifier 456 may be connectedto the same antenna arrays 418, e.g., for TDD operations. The firstamplifier 456 may be connected to different antenna arrays 418. Theboosted RF signal is input into one or more of phase shifter 454 toprovide a configurable phase shift or phase offset for the correspondingreceived RF signal. The phase shifter 454 may be an active phase shifteror a passive phase shifter. The settings of the phase shifters 454 areindependent, meaning that each can be set to provide a desired amount ofphase shift or the same amount of phase shift or some otherconfiguration. The modem 402 and/or the communications manager 435 mayhave at least one control line connected to each of the phase shifters454 and which may be used to configure the phase shifters 454 to providea desired amount of phase shift or phase offset between antenna elements420.

The outputs of the phase shifters 454 may be input to one or more secondamplifiers 452 for signal amplification of the phase shifted received RFsignals. The second amplifiers 452 may be individually configured toprovide a configured amount of gain. The second amplifiers 452 may beindividually configured to provide an amount of gain to ensure that thesignal input to combiner 450 have the same magnitude. The amplifiers 452and/or 456 are illustrated in dashed lines because they might not benecessary in some implementations. In one implementation, both theamplifier 452 and the amplifier 456 are present. In another, neither theamplifier 452 nor the amplifier 456 are present. In otherimplementations, one of the amplifiers 452, 456 is present but not theother.

In the illustrated antenna module 400, signals output by the phaseshifters 454 (via the amplifiers 452 when present) are combined incombiner 450. The combiner 450 in architecture combines the RF signalinto a signal, as denoted by its presence in box 428. The combiner 450may be a passive combiner, e.g., not connected to a power source, whichmay result in some insertion loss. The combiner 450 may be an activecombiner, e.g., connected to a power source, which may result in somesignal gain. When combiner 450 is an active combiner, it may provide adifferent (e.g., configurable) amount of gain for each input signal sothat the input signals have the same magnitude when they are combined.When combiner 450 is an active combiner, it may not use the secondamplifier 452 because the active combiner may provide the signalamplification.

The output of the combiner 450 is input into mixers 458 and 460. Mixers458 and 460 generally down convert the received RF signal using inputsfrom local oscillators 472 and 470, respectively, to create intermediateor baseband signals that carry the encoded and modulated information.The output of the mixers 458 and 460 are input into an analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC) 455 for conversion to analog signals. The analog signalsoutput from ADC 455 is input to modem 402 for baseband processing, e.g.,decoding, de-interleaving, etc.

The antenna module 400 is given by way of example only to illustrate anarchitecture for transmitting and/or receiving signals. It will beunderstood that the antenna module 400 and/or each portion of theantenna module 400 may be repeated multiple times within an architectureto accommodate or provide an arbitrary number of RF chains, antennaelements, and/or antenna panels. Furthermore, numerous alternatearchitectures are possible and contemplated. For example, although onlya single antenna array 418 is shown, two, three, or more antenna arraysmay be included each with one or more of their own correspondingamplifiers, phase shifters, splitters, mixers, DACs, ADCs, and/ormodems. For example, a single UE may include two, four or more antennapanels or virtual antenna panels for transmitting or receiving signalsat different physical locations on the UE or in different directions.Furthermore, mixers, splitters, amplifiers, phase shifters and othercomponents may be located in different signal type areas (e.g.,different ones of the boxes 422, 425, 426, 428) in different implementedarchitectures. For example, a split of the signal to be transmitted intoa plurality of signals may take place at the analog RF, analog IF,analog baseband, or digital baseband frequencies in different examples.Similarly, amplification, and/or phase shifts may also take place atdifferent frequencies. For example, in some contemplatedimplementations, one or more of the splitter 410, amplifiers 412, 416,or phase shifters 415 may be located between the DAC 405 and the firstmixer 406 or between the first mixer 406 and the second mixer 408. Inone example, the functions of one or more of the components may becombined into one component. For example, the phase shifters 415 mayperform amplification to include or replace the first and/or or secondamplifiers 412, 416. By way of another example, a phase shift may beimplemented by the second mixer 408 to obviate the need for a separatephase shifter 415. This technique is sometimes called local oscillator(LO) phase shifting. In one implementation of this configuration, theremay be a plurality of IF to RF mixers (e.g., for each antenna elementchain) within the second mixer 408 and the local oscillator B 432 wouldsupply different local oscillator signals (with different phase offsets)to each IF to RF mixer.

The modem 402 and/or the communications manager 435 may control one ormore of the other components 405-472 to select one or more antennaelements 420 and/or to form beams for transmission of one or moresignals. For example, the antenna elements 420 may be individuallyselected or deselected for transmission of a signal (or signals) bycontrolling an amplitude of one or more corresponding amplifiers, suchas the first amplifiers 412 and/or the second amplifiers 416.Beamforming includes generation of a beam using a plurality of signalson different antenna elements where one or more or all of the pluralitysignals are shifted in phase relative to each other. The formed beam maycarry physical or higher layer reference signals or information. As eachsignal of the plurality of signals is radiated from a respective antennaelement 420, the radiated signals interact, interfere (constructive anddestructive interference), and amplify each other to form a resultingbeam. The shape (such as the amplitude, width, and/or presence of sidelobes) and the direction (such as an angle of the beam relative to asurface of the antenna array 418) can be dynamically controlled bymodifying the phase shifts or phase offsets imparted by the phaseshifters 415 and amplitudes imparted by the amplifiers 412, 416 of theplurality of signals relative to each other.

In some cases, a number of antenna modules 400 may be present at a UE,and each of the multiple antenna panels has an associated set of beamsthat can be supported at the antenna panel, as discussed herein. In somecases, a panel ID (or virtual panel ID) may be associated with a set ofbeams that correspond to a number of different reference signalresources, different reference signal resource ports, differentreference signal resource sets, different spatial relations (e.g.,different beamforming directions), different spatial filters, or anycombinations thereof. In some cases the reference signals may includeone or more of an SRS, a CSI-RS, a DMRS, or any combinations thereof. Insome cases, the panel-specific capabilities may indicate one or more ofa capability to support simultaneous communications using multiple beamson multiple panels, a number of spatial layers or ranks per beam orpanel, a maximum number of spatial layers or ranks supported across allbeams or panels, supported combinations of spatial layers or ranksacross beams or panels that support simultaneous communications, or anycombinations thereof.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a process flow 500 that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Insome examples, process flow 500 may implement aspects of wirelesscommunications system 100 or 200. The process flow 500 may include abase station 105-b and a UE 115-b, which may be examples of thecorresponding devices described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. UE115-b may have multiple antenna panels that may support transmissions onmultiple beams. Alternative examples of the following may beimplemented, where some steps are performed in a different order thandescribed or are not performed at all. In some cases, steps may includeadditional features not mentioned herein, or further steps may be added.

At 505, UE 115-b may identify antenna panel IDs for virtual panels andassociated sets of beams. In some cases, the antenna panel IDs may bedetermined based on reference signal resources, resource sets, etc., asdiscussed herein. In some case, the UE 115-b may identify the panel IDsbased on one or more reference signals that are monitored at the UE115-b (e.g., reference signals detected in one or more monitoredsynchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in a beam sweeping procedure of thebase station 105-b). In some cases, the UE 115-b and base station 105-bmay operate in a non-stand-alone (NSA) mode in which an anchor carriermay be used to configure the UE 115-b to establish beamformedcommunications. In other case, the UE 115-b and base station 105-b mayoperate in a stand-alone (SA) mode in which communications between theUE 115-b and base station 105-b exclusively use beamformed transmissionbeams.

At 510, the UE 115-b may determine panel-specific capabilities for theantenna panels and sets of beams. Such panel-specific capabilities mayinclude, for example, capabilities for simultaneous transmissions ofmultiple panels, numbers of beams that are supported, sets or subsets ofbeams that may be simultaneously transmitted, ranks or spatial layersthat may be transmitted, or combinations thereof, as discussed herein.

At 515, the UE 115-b may transmit panel-specific capabilities to thebase station 105-b. In some cases, the panel-specific capabilities maybe transmitted to the base station 105-b in RRC signaling (e.g., induring an RRC establishment, RRC reestablishment, or RRCreconfiguration). In other cases, the panel-specific capabilities may betransmitted to the base station 105-b in other signaling, such as usingone or more MAC control elements (CEs), other uplink and downlinkcontrol signaling, or combinations thereof.

At 520, the base station 105-b may identify panels and beams forcommunications based on panel-specific capabilities. The panels andbeams may be determined based on the indications and capabilitiesprovided by the UE 115-b. At 525, the base station 105-b may transmitconfiguration information to the UE 115-b (e.g., via RRC signaling, indownlink control information to the UE 115-b, or combinations thereof).At 530, the UE 115-b may receive the configuration information anddetermine antenna panels and beams for uplink communications.

In some cases, at 535, the base station 105-b may initiate a beamtraining procedure, and the UE 115-b and base station 105-b may, at 540,may perform the beam training procedure (e.g., P1, P2, P3 procedures).

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram 600 of a device 605 that supports antennapanel capability determination and indication in wireless communicationsin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 605 maybe an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 605may include a receiver 610, a communications manager 615, and atransmitter 620. The device 605 may also include one or more processors,memory coupled with the one or more processors, and instructions storedin the memory that are executable by the one or more processors toenable the one or more processors to perform the antenna panelcapability determination and indication features discussed herein. Eachof these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., viaone or more buses).

The receiver 610 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to antennapanel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications, etc.). Information may be passed on to other componentsof the device 605. The receiver 610 may be an example of aspects of thetransceiver 920 described with reference to FIG. 9. The receiver 610 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

The communications manager 615 may identify a first set of beamsassociated with a first antenna panel and a second set of beamsassociated with a second antenna panel, each beam of the first set ofbeams and the second set of beams having different beamformingcharacteristics for communications with a base station, determinewhether simultaneous communications via a first beam of the first set ofbeams and a second beam of the second set of beams is supported, andcommunicate with the base station using at least one of the first beamor the second beam based on the determining.

The communications manager 615 may also identify two or more antennapanels for communications with a base station, each antenna panel of thetwo or more antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of anassociated set of beams for communications with the base station,determine one or more panel-specific capabilities for the two or moreantenna panels that are configurable for different panel-specificoperations for the communications with the base station, and transmit anindication to the base station of the two or more antenna panels andassociated panel-specific operations. The communications manager 615 maybe an example of aspects of the communications manager 910 describedherein.

The communications manager 615, or its sub-components, may beimplemented in hardware, code (e.g., software or firmware) executed by aprocessor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executedby a processor, the functions of the communications manager 615, or itssub-components may be executed by a general-purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field-programable gate array (FPGA) or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed in the present disclosure.

The communications manager 615, or its sub-components, may be physicallylocated at various positions, including being distributed such thatportions of functions are implemented at different physical locations byone or more physical components. In some examples, the communicationsmanager 615, or its sub-components, may be a separate and distinctcomponent in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.In some examples, the communications manager 615, or its sub-components,may be combined with one or more other hardware components, includingbut not limited to an input/output (I/O) component, a transceiver, anetwork server, another computing device, one or more other componentsdescribed in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

The transmitter 620 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 605. In some examples, the transmitter 620 may becollocated with a receiver 610 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 620 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 920described with reference to FIG. 9. The transmitter 620 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

In some examples, the communications manager 615 may be implemented asan integrated circuit or chipset for a mobile device modem, and thereceiver 610 and transmitter 620 may be implemented as analog components(e.g., amplifiers, filters, antennas) coupled with the mobile devicemodem to enable wireless transmission and reception over one or morebands.

The communications manager 615 as described herein may be implemented torealize one or more potential advantages. One implementation may enablethe device 605 to improve efficiency and reliability of a system throughmore efficiently beamformed communications. This may result in fewertransmissions, fewer monitoring occasions, and, accordingly, fewerprocessing operations and longer sleep times for one or more processingunits associated with transmitting and monitoring signals. As such, thedevice 605 may experience enhanced power savings and increased batterylife.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram 700 of a device 705 that supports antennapanel capability determination and indication in wireless communicationsin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 705 maybe an example of aspects of a device 605, or a UE 115 as describedherein. The device 705 may include a receiver 710, a communicationsmanager 715, and a transmitter 735. The device 705 may also include aprocessor. Each of these components may be in communication with oneanother (e.g., via one or more buses).

The receiver 710 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to antennapanel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications, etc.). Information may be passed on to other componentsof the device 705. The receiver 710 may be an example of aspects of thetransceiver 920 described with reference to FIG. 9. The receiver 710 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

The communications manager 715 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 615 as described herein. The communicationsmanager 715 may include a panel identification component 720, a panelcapability component 725, and a beamforming manager 730. Thecommunications manager 715 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 910 described herein.

The panel identification component 720 may identify a first set of beamsassociated with a first antenna panel and a second set of beamsassociated with a second antenna panel, each beam of the first set ofbeams and the second set of beams having different beamformingcharacteristics for communications with a base station. The panelcapability component 725 may determine whether simultaneouscommunications via a first beam of the first set of beams and a secondbeam of the second set of beams is supported. The beamforming manager730 may communicate with the base station using at least one of thefirst beam or the second beam based on the determining.

In some cases, the panel identification component 720 may identify twoor more antenna panels for communications with a base station, eachantenna panel of the two or more antenna panels configured to transmit abeam of an associated set of beams for communications with the basestation. The panel capability component 725 may determine one or morepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels that areconfigurable for different panel-specific operations for thecommunications with the base station. The beamforming manager 730 maytransmit an indication to the base station of the two or more antennapanels and associated panel-specific operations.

The transmitter 735 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 705. In some examples, the transmitter 735 may becollocated with a receiver 710 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 735 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 920described with reference to FIG. 9. The transmitter 735 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

In some cases, the panel identification component 720, the panelcapability component 725, and the beamforming manager 730 may each be orbe at least a part of a processor (e.g., a transceiver processor, or aradio processor, or a transmitter processor, or a receiver processor).The processor may be coupled with memory and execute instructions storedin the memory that enable the processor to perform or facilitate thefeatures of the panel identification component 720, the panel capabilitycomponent 725, and the beamforming manager 730 discussed herein. Atransceiver processor may be collocated with and/or communicate with(e.g., direct the operations of) a transceiver of the device. A radioprocessor may be collocated with and/or communicate with (e.g., directthe operations of) a radio (e.g., an NR radio, an LTE radio, a Wi-Firadio) of the device. A transmitter processor may be collocated withand/or communicate with (e.g., direct the operations of) a transmitterof the device. A receiver processor may be collocated with and/orcommunicate with (e.g., direct the operations of) a receiver of thedevice.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram 800 of a communications manager 805 thatsupports antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The communications manager 805 may be an example of aspectsof a communications manager 615, a communications manager 715, or acommunications manager 910 described herein. The communications manager805 may include a panel identification component 810, a panel capabilitycomponent 815, a beamforming manager 820, a configuration manager 825, abeam training component 830, a beam identification component 835, and areference signal manager 840. Each of these modules may communicate,directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The panel identification component 810 may identify a first set of beamsassociated with a first antenna panel and a second set of beamsassociated with a second antenna panel, each beam of the first set ofbeams and the second set of beams having different beamformingcharacteristics for communications with a base station.

In some examples, the panel identification component 810 may identifytwo or more antenna panels for communications with a base station, eachantenna panel of the two or more antenna panels configured to transmit abeam of an associated set of beams for communications with the basestation. In some cases, the first set of beams and the second set ofbeams correspond to different reference signal resources, differentreference signal ports, different reference signal resource sets,different spatial resources, different spatial filters, or anycombinations thereof. In some cases, each antenna panel at the UE isassociated with a panel ID. In some cases, each panel ID is associatedwith a virtual antenna panel having two or more antenna elements thatare co-located on a same antenna module or are located on differentantenna modules. In some cases, the number of beams in each set of beamscorrespond to a number of different reference signal resources,different reference signal resource ports, different reference signalresource sets, different spatial relations, different spatial filters,or any combinations thereof.

The panel capability component 815 may determine that simultaneouscommunications via a first beam of the first set of beams and a secondbeam of the second set of beams is supported by the UE. In someexamples, the panel capability component 815 may determine one or morepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels that areconfigurable for different panel-specific operations for thecommunications with the base station. In some examples, the panelcapability component 815 may determine that simultaneous communicationsusing beams associated with different antenna panels is supported orunsupported based on one or more of a hardware configuration of the UE,a predetermined rule for communications via multiple antenna panels, aconfiguration provided by the base station, or any combinations thereof.In some examples, the panel capability component 815 may transmit, tothe base station, a first indication that simultaneous communicationsvia a first beam and a second beam is support and a second indication ofthe maximum number of supported layers for each of the first beam andthe second beam. In some examples, the first indication and the secondindication are a same indication.

In some examples, the panel capability component 815 may determine thatthe hardware configuration of the UE supports simultaneouscommunications via multiple antenna panels. In some examples, the panelcapability component 815 may transmit, the base station, an indicationthat simultaneous communications using beams associated with differentantenna panels is supported by the UE. In some examples, the panelcapability component 815 may determine that the hardware configurationof the UE does not support simultaneous communications via multipleantenna panels.

In some examples, the panel capability component 815 may transmit, thebase station, an indication that simultaneous communication using beamsassociated with different antenna panels is unsupported by the UE. Insome examples, the panel capability component 815 may determine amaximum number of supported spatial layers for each of the first beamand the second beam based on a fixed maximum number or a hardwarecapability of the UE.

In some examples, the panel capability component 815 may transmit one ormore of a number of antenna panels, a number of beams in the associatedset of beams per panel, a number of spatial layers associated with eachbeam or antenna panel, an indication of beam/panel combinations andcorresponding spatial layers, or any combinations thereof. In someexamples, the panel capability component 815 may determine thatsimultaneous communications using beams associated with differentantenna panels is supported based on one or more of a hardwareconfiguration of the UE, a predetermined rule for communications viamultiple antenna panels, or any combinations thereof. In some examples,the panel capability component 815 may transmit, the base station, anindication that simultaneous communications using beams associated withdifferent antenna panels is supported by the UE.

In some examples, the panel capability component 815 may determine thatthe hardware configuration of the UE does not support simultaneouscommunications via multiple antenna panels, and where the indicationtransmitted to the base station indicates that simultaneouscommunications using beams associated with different antenna panels isunsupported by the UE.

In some examples, the panel capability component 815 may determine anumber of supported spatial layers for each antenna panel that supportssimultaneous communications and a maximum number of supported spatiallayers across all of the antenna panels that support simultaneouscommunications. In some examples, the panel capability component 815 maywhere the indication transmitted to the base station indicates thenumber of supported spatial layers for each antenna panel and themaximum number supported spatial layers. In some examples, the panelcapability component 815 may determine one or more combinations ofspatial layers across each supported combination of antenna panels thatsupport simultaneous communications, and a maximum number of supportedspatial layers across all of the antenna panels that supportsimultaneous communications. In some examples, the panel capabilitycomponent 815 may where the indication transmitted to the base stationindicates the one or more combinations of spatial layers and the maximumnumber supported spatial layers.

In some cases, the indication that simultaneous communications usingbeams associated with different antenna panels is supported by the UEincludes one or more of an indication that any beams from any set ofdifferent panels support simultaneous communications, an indication thatone or more antenna panels do not support simultaneous communications,an indication of a number of panels that can support simultaneouscommunications and corresponding panel identifications, an indicationone or more subsets of each set of beams that support simultaneouscommunications, or any combinations thereof.

The beamforming manager 820 may communicate with the base station usingat least one of the first beam or the second beam based on thedetermining. In some examples, the beamforming manager 820 may transmitan indication to the base station of the two or more antenna panels andassociated panel-specific operations. In some cases, the first set ofbeams and the second set of beams are analog millimeter-wave beams. Insome cases, the determining and the transmitting are performedseparately for each of two or more millimeter wave (mmW) frequencybands.

The configuration manager 825 may receive configuration information fromthe base station that enables simultaneous communications via multipleantenna panels.

The beam training component 830 may initiate a beam training procedureto determine beamforming parameters for the first beam and the secondbeam. In some examples, the beam training component 830 may initiate abeam training procedure to determine beamforming parameters for a firstbeam associated with a first antenna panel and a second beam associatedwith a second antenna panel that are to be used for simultaneouscommunications with the base station.

The beam identification component 835 may transmit, to the base station,a first subset of the first set of beams and a second subset of thesecond set of beams that can be used for simultaneous communications. Insome examples, the beam identification component 835 may transmit, tothe base station, an indication of the first set of beams and the secondset of beams, where any beam of the first set of beams and any beam ofthe second set of beams can be selected for simultaneous communications.In some examples, multiple beams of the first set of beams cannot beused for simultaneous communications, and multiple beams of the secondset of beams cannot be used for simultaneous communications.

The reference signal manager 840 may manage reference signals. In somecases, the reference signal resources, the reference signal ports, andthe reference signal resource sets, are each associated with an SRS, aCSI-RS, a DMRS, or any combinations thereof.

In some cases, the panel identification component 810, the panelcapability component 815, the beamforming manager 820, the configurationmanager 825, the beam training component 830, the beam identificationcomponent 835, and the reference signal manager 840 may each be or be atleast a part of a processor (e.g., a transceiver processor, or a radioprocessor, or a transmitter processor, or a receiver processor). Theprocessor may be coupled with memory and execute instructions stored inthe memory that enable the processor to perform or facilitate thefeatures of the panel identification component 810, the panel capabilitycomponent 815, the beamforming manager 820, the configuration manager825, the beam training component 830, the beam identification component835, and the reference signal manager 840 discussed herein.

FIG. 9 shows a diagram of a system 900 including a device 905 thatsupports antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The device 905 may be an example of or include thecomponents of device 605, device 705, or a UE 115 as described herein.The device 905 may include components for bi-directional voice and datacommunications including components for transmitting and receivingcommunications, including a communications manager 910, an I/Ocontroller 915, a transceiver 920, an antenna 925, memory 930, and aprocessor 940. These components may be in electronic communication viaone or more buses (e.g., bus 945).

The communications manager 910 may identify a first set of beamsassociated with a first antenna panel and a second set of beamsassociated with a second antenna panel, each beam of the first set ofbeams and the second set of beams having different beamformingcharacteristics for communications with a base station, determinewhether simultaneous communications via a first beam of the first set ofbeams and a second beam of the second set of beams is supported, andcommunicate with the base station using at least one of the first beamor the second beam based on the determining.

The communications manager 910 may also identify two or more antennapanels for communications with a base station, each antenna panel of thetwo or more antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of anassociated set of beams for communications with the base station,determine one or more panel-specific capabilities for the two or moreantenna panels that are configurable for different panel-specificoperations for the communications with the base station, and transmit anindication to the base station of the two or more antenna panels andassociated panel-specific operations.

The I/O controller 915 may manage input and output signals for thedevice 905. The I/O controller 915 may also manage peripherals notintegrated into the device 905. In some cases, the I/O controller 915may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral.In some cases, the I/O controller 915 may utilize an operating systemsuch as iOS®, ANDROID®, MS-DOS®, MS-WINDOWS®, OS/2®, UNIX®, LINUX®, oranother known operating system. In other cases, the I/O controller 915may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, atouchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I/O controller 915may be implemented as part of a processor. In some cases, a user mayinteract with the device 905 via the I/O controller 915 or via hardwarecomponents controlled by the I/O controller 915.

The transceiver 920 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, thetransceiver 920 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicatebi-directionally with another wireless transceiver.

The transceiver 920 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas.

In some cases, the wireless device may include a single antenna 925.However, in some cases the device may have more than one antenna 925,which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewireless transmissions.

The memory 930 may include random-access memory (RAM) and read-onlymemory (ROM). The memory 930 may store computer-readable,computer-executable code 935 including instructions that, when executed,cause the processor to perform various functions described herein. Insome cases, the memory 930 may contain, among other things, a basic I/Osystem (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operationsuch as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The processor 940 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a central processing unit (CPU), amicrocontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, adiscrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardwarecomponent, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 940may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller.In other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into the processor940. The processor 940 may be configured to execute computer-readableinstructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 930) to cause thedevice 905 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or taskssupporting antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications).

The code 935 may include instructions to implement aspects of thepresent disclosure, including instructions to support wirelesscommunications. The code 935 may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as system memory or other type of memory.In some cases, the code 935 may not be directly executable by theprocessor 940 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of a device 1005 that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Thedevice 1005 may be an example of aspects of a base station 105 asdescribed herein. The device 1005 may include a receiver 1010, acommunications manager 1015, and a transmitter 1020. The device 1005 mayalso include one or more processors, memory coupled with the one or moreprocessors, and instructions stored in the memory that are executable bythe one or more processors to enable the one or more processors toperform the antenna panel capability determination and indicationfeatures discussed herein. Each of these components may be incommunication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The receiver 1010 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to antennapanel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications, etc.). Information may be passed on to other componentsof the device 1005. The receiver 1010 may be an example of aspects ofthe transceiver 1320 described with reference to FIG. 13. The receiver1010 may utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

The communications manager 1015 may identify a UE that is to establishcommunications with the base station using one or more of a first set ofbeams associated with a first antenna panel and a second set of beamsassociated with a second antenna panel, each beam of the first set ofbeams and the second set of beams having different beamformingcharacteristics for communications with the UE, communicate with the UEusing at least one of the first beam or the second beam based on thedetermining, and determine whether simultaneous communications via afirst beam of the first set of beams and a second beam of the second setof beams is supported.

The communications manager 1015 may also identify a UE that is toestablish communications with the base station using two or more sets ofbeams associated with two or more antenna panels at the UE, establishcommunications with the UE via one or more beams using one or more ofthe antenna panels based on the panel-specific capabilities for the twoor more antenna panels, receive an indication from the UE that indicatesthe two or more antenna panels and one or more associated panel-specificoperations of each of the two or more antenna panels, and identify,based on the indication from the UE, two or more antenna panels forcommunications with a base station, each antenna panel of the two ormore antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of an associated setof beams for communications with the base station, and one or morepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels that areconfigurable for different panel-specific operations for communicationswith the UE.

The communications manager 1015 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 1310 described herein. The communications manager1015, or its sub-components, may be implemented in hardware, code (e.g.,software or firmware) executed by a processor, or any combinationthereof. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functionsof the communications manager 1015, or its sub-components may beexecuted by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a FPGA or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described in the present disclosure.

The communications manager 1015, or its sub-components, may bephysically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations by one or more physical components. In some examples, thecommunications manager 1015, or its sub-components, may be a separateand distinct component in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, the communications manager 1015, or itssub-components, may be combined with one or more other hardwarecomponents, including but not limited to an input/output (I/O)component, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device,one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or acombination thereof in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

The transmitter 1020 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 1005. In some examples, the transmitter 1020 may becollocated with a receiver 1010 in a transceiver module. For example,the transmitter 1020 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver1320 described with reference to FIG. 13. The transmitter 1020 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a device 1105 that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Thedevice 1105 may be an example of aspects of a device 1005, or a basestation 105 as described herein. The device 1105 may include a receiver1110, a communications manager 1115, and a transmitter 1135. The device1105 may also include a processor. Each of these components may be incommunication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The receiver 1110 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to antennapanel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications, etc.). Information may be passed on to other componentsof the device 1105. The receiver 1110 may be an example of aspects ofthe transceiver 1320 described with reference to FIG. 13. The receiver1110 may utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

The communications manager 1115 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 1015 as described herein. The communicationsmanager 1115 may include a beamforming manager 1120, a panel capabilitycomponent 1125, and a panel identification component 1130. Thecommunications manager 1115 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 1310 described herein.

The beamforming manager 1120 may identify a UE that is to establishcommunications with the base station using one or more of a first set ofbeams associated with a first antenna panel and a second set of beamsassociated with a second antenna panel, each beam of the first set ofbeams and the second set of beams having different beamformingcharacteristics for communications with the UE and communicate with theUE using at least one of the first beam or the second beam based on thedetermining.

The panel capability component 1125 may determine whether simultaneouscommunications via a first beam of the first set of beams and a secondbeam of the second set of beams is supported.

The beamforming manager 1120 may identify a UE that is to establishcommunications with the base station using two or more sets of beamsassociated with two or more antenna panels at the UE and establishcommunications with the UE via one or more beams using one or more ofthe antenna panels based on the panel-specific capabilities for the twoor more antenna panels.

In some cases, the panel identification component 1130 may receive anindication from the UE that indicates the two or more antenna panels andone or more associated panel-specific operations of each of the two ormore antenna panels. The panel capability component 1125 may identify,based on the indication from the UE, two or more antenna panels forcommunications with a base station, each antenna panel of the two ormore antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of an associated setof beams for communications with the base station, and one or morepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels that areconfigurable for different panel-specific operations for communicationswith the UE.

The transmitter 1135 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 1105. In some examples, the transmitter 1135 may becollocated with a receiver 1110 in a transceiver module. For example,the transmitter 1135 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver1320 described with reference to FIG. 13. The transmitter 1135 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

In some cases, the beamforming manager 1120, the panel capabilitycomponent 1125, and the panel identification component 1130 may each beor be at least a part of a processor (e.g., a transceiver processor, ora radio processor, or a transmitter processor, or a receiver processor).The processor may be coupled with memory and execute instructions storedin the memory that enable the processor to perform or facilitate thefeatures of the beamforming manager 1120, the panel capability component1125, and the panel identification component 1130 discussed herein. Atransceiver processor may be collocated with and/or communicate with(e.g., direct the operations of) a transceiver of the device. A radioprocessor may be collocated with and/or communicate with (e.g., directthe operations of) a radio (e.g., an NR radio, an LTE radio, a Wi-Firadio) of the device. A transmitter processor may be collocated withand/or communicate with (e.g., direct the operations of) a transmitterof the device. A receiver processor may be collocated with and/orcommunicate with (e.g., direct the operations of) a receiver of thedevice.

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram 1200 of a communications manager 1205 thatsupports antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The communications manager 1205 may be an example of aspectsof a communications manager 1015, a communications manager 1115, or acommunications manager 1310 described herein. The communications manager1205 may include a beamforming manager 1210, a panel capabilitycomponent 1215, a configuration manager 1220, a beam training component1225, a beam identification component 1230, a reference signal manager1235, and a panel identification component 1240. Each of these modulesmay communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via oneor more buses).

The beamforming manager 1210 may identify a UE that is to establishcommunications with the base station using one or more of a first set ofbeams associated with a first antenna panel and a second set of beamsassociated with a second antenna panel, each beam of the first set ofbeams and the second set of beams having different beamformingcharacteristics for communications with the UE. In some examples, thebeamforming manager 1210 may communicate with the UE using at least oneof the first beam or the second beam based on the determining. In someexamples, the beamforming manager 1210 may identify a UE that is toestablish communications with the base station using two or more sets ofbeams associated with two or more antenna panels at the UE. In someexamples, the beamforming manager 1210 may establish communications withthe UE via one or more beams using one or more of the antenna panelsbased on the panel-specific capabilities for the two or more antennapanels.

The panel capability component 1215 may determine whether simultaneouscommunications via a first beam of the first set of beams and a secondbeam of the second set of beams is supported. In some examples, thepanel capability component 1215 may identify, based on the indicationfrom the UE, two or more antenna panels for communications with a basestation, each antenna panel of the two or more antenna panels configuredto transmit a beam of an associated set of beams for communications withthe base station, and one or more panel-specific capabilities for thetwo or more antenna panels that are configurable for differentpanel-specific operations for communications with the UE. In someexamples, the panel capability component 1215 may determine thatsimultaneous communications using beams associated with differentantenna panels is supported or unsupported based on one or more of ahardware configuration of the UE, a predetermined rule forcommunications via multiple antenna panels, whether the base station hasenabled simultaneous communications using beams associated withdifferent antenna panels, or any combinations thereof.

In some examples, the panel capability component 1215 may receive anindication from the UE that the UE supports simultaneous communicationsvia multiple antenna panels. In some examples, the panel capabilitycomponent 1215 may receive, from the UE, an indication that simultaneouscommunications using beams associated with different antenna panels isunsupported by the UE.

In some examples, the panel capability component 1215 may configurecommunications with the UE using a single antenna panel. In someexamples, the panel capability component 1215 may multiple beams of thefirst set of beams cannot be used for simultaneous communications, andmultiple beams of the second set of beams cannot be used forsimultaneous communications.

In some examples, the panel capability component 1215 may receive, fromthe UE, an indication of a maximum number of supported spatial layersfor each of the first beam and the second beam based on a fixed maximumnumber or a hardware capability of the UE.

In some examples, the panel capability component 1215 may receive anindication from the UE that simultaneous communications using beamsassociated with different antenna panels is supported by the UE. In someexamples, the panel capability component 1215 may receive an indicationfrom the UE that the UE does not support simultaneous communications viamultiple antenna panels. In some examples, the panel capabilitycomponent 1215 may receive an indication from the UE of a number ofsupported spatial layers for each antenna panel that supportssimultaneous communications and a maximum number of supported spatiallayers across all of the antenna panels that support simultaneouscommunications. In some examples, the panel capability component 1215may receive an indication from the UE of one or more combinations ofspatial layers across each supported combination of antenna panels thatsupport simultaneous communications and a maximum number of supportedspatial layers across all of the antenna panels that supportsimultaneous communications.

In some cases, the indication that simultaneous communications usingbeams associated with different antenna panels is supported by the UEincludes one or more of an indication that any beams from any set ofdifferent panels support simultaneous communications, an indication thatone or more antenna panels do not support simultaneous communications,an indication of a number of panels that can support simultaneouscommunications and corresponding panel identifications, an indicationone or more subsets of each set of beams that support simultaneouscommunications, or any combinations thereof.

The panel identification component 1240 may receive an indication fromthe UE that indicates the two or more antenna panels and one or moreassociated panel-specific operations of each of the two or more antennapanels. In some examples, the panel identification component 1240 mayreceive an indication from the UE of one or more of a number of antennapanels, a number of beams in the associated set of beams per panel, anumber of spatial layers associated with each beam or antenna panel, anindication of beam/panel combinations and corresponding spatial layers,or any combinations thereof. In some cases, each antenna panel at the UEis associated with a panel ID. In some cases, the number of beams ineach set of beams correspond to a number of different reference signalresources, different reference signal resource ports, differentreference signal resource sets, different spatial relations, differentspatial filters, or any combinations thereof.

The configuration manager 1220 may transmit configuration information tothe UE to enable simultaneous communications via multiple antennapanels.

The beam training component 1225 may initiate a beam training procedureto determine beamforming parameters for the first beam and the secondbeam. In some examples, the beam training component 1225 may initiate abeam training procedure to determine beamforming parameters for a firstbeam associated with a first antenna panel and a second beam associatedwith a second antenna panel that are to be used for simultaneouscommunications with the base station.

The beam identification component 1230 may receive, from the UE, anindication of a first subset of the first set of beams and a secondsubset of the second set of beams that can be used for simultaneouscommunications. In some examples, the beam identification component 1230may receive, from the UE, an indication of the first set of beams andthe second set of beams and that any beam of the first set of beams andany beam of the second set of beams can be selected for simultaneouscommunications. In some cases, the first set of beams and the second setof beams correspond to different reference signal resources, differentreference signal ports, different reference signal resource sets,different spatial resources, different spatial filters, or anycombinations thereof.

The reference signal manager 1235 may manage reference signals. In somecases, the reference signal resources, the reference signal ports, andthe reference signal resource sets, are each associated with an SRS, aCSI-RS, a DMRS, or any combinations thereof.

In some cases, the beamforming manager 1210, the panel capabilitycomponent 1215, the configuration manager 1220, the beam trainingcomponent 1225, the beam identification component 1230, the referencesignal manager 1235, and the panel identification component 1240 mayeach be or be at least a part of a processor (e.g., a transceiverprocessor, or a radio processor, or a transmitter processor, or areceiver processor). The processor may be coupled with memory andexecute instructions stored in the memory that enable the processor toperform or facilitate the features of the beamforming manager 1210, thepanel capability component 1215, the configuration manager 1220, thebeam training component 1225, the beam identification component 1230,the reference signal manager 1235, and the panel identificationcomponent 1240 discussed herein.

FIG. 13 shows a diagram of a system 1300 including a device 1305 thatsupports antenna panel capability determination and indication inwireless communications in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The device 1305 may be an example of or include thecomponents of device 1005, device 1105, or a base station 105 asdescribed herein. The device 1305 may include components forbi-directional voice and data communications including components fortransmitting and receiving communications, including a communicationsmanager 1310, a network communications manager 1315, a transceiver 1320,an antenna 1325, memory 1330, a processor 1340, and an inter-stationcommunications manager 1345. These components may be in electroniccommunication via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1350).

The communications manager 1310 may identify a UE that is to establishcommunications with the base station using one or more of a first set ofbeams associated with a first antenna panel and a second set of beamsassociated with a second antenna panel, each beam of the first set ofbeams and the second set of beams having different beamformingcharacteristics for communications with the UE, communicate with the UEusing at least one of the first beam or the second beam based on thedetermining, and determine whether simultaneous communications via afirst beam of the first set of beams and a second beam of the second setof beams is supported.

The communications manager 1310 may also identify a UE that is toestablish communications with the base station using two or more sets ofbeams associated with two or more antenna panels at the UE, establishcommunications with the UE via one or more beams using one or more ofthe antenna panels based on the panel-specific capabilities for the twoor more antenna panels, receive an indication from the UE that indicatesthe two or more antenna panels and one or more associated panel-specificoperations of each of the two or more antenna panels, and identify,based on the indication from the UE, two or more antenna panels forcommunications with a base station, each antenna panel of the two ormore antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of an associated setof beams for communications with the base station, and one or morepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels that areconfigurable for different panel-specific operations for communicationswith the UE.

The network communications manager 1315 may manage communications withthe core network (e.g., via one or more wired backhaul links). Forexample, the network communications manager 1315 may manage the transferof data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115.

The transceiver 1320 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, thetransceiver 1320 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1320 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas.

In some cases, the wireless device may include a single antenna 1325.However, in some cases the device may have more than one antenna 1325,which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewireless transmissions.

The memory 1330 may include RAM, ROM, or a combination thereof. Thememory 1330 may store computer-readable code 1335 including instructionsthat, when executed by a processor (e.g., the processor 1340) cause thedevice to perform various functions described herein. In some cases, thememory 1330 may contain, among other things, a BIOS which may controlbasic hardware or software operation such as the interaction withperipheral components or devices.

The processor 1340 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, anFPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logiccomponent, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof).In some cases, the processor 1340 may be configured to operate a memoryarray using a memory controller. In some cases, a memory controller maybe integrated into processor 1340. The processor 1340 may be configuredto execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., thememory 1330) to cause the device 1305 to perform various functions(e.g., functions or tasks supporting antenna panel capabilitydetermination and indication in wireless communications).

The inter-station communications manager 1345 may manage communicationswith other base station 105, and may include a controller or schedulerfor controlling communications with UEs 115 in cooperation with otherbase stations 105. For example, the inter-station communications manager1345 may coordinate scheduling for transmissions to UEs 115 for variousinterference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or jointtransmission. In some examples, the inter-station communications manager1345 may provide an X2 interface within an LTE/LTE-A wirelesscommunication network technology to provide communication between basestations 105.

The code 1335 may include instructions to implement aspects of thepresent disclosure, including instructions to support wirelesscommunications. The code 1335 may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as system memory or other type of memory.In some cases, the code 1335 may not be directly executable by theprocessor 1340 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations of method 1400 may be implemented by a UE 115 or itscomponents as described herein. For example, the operations of method1400 may be performed by a communications manager as described withreference to FIGS. 6 through 9. In some examples, a UE may execute a setof instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to performthe functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, a UE mayperform aspects of the functions described herein using special-purposehardware.

At 1405, the UE may identify a first set of beams associated with afirst antenna panel and a second set of beams associated with a secondantenna panel, each beam of the first set of beams and the second set ofbeams having different beamforming characteristics for communicationswith a base station. The operations of 1405 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1405 may be performed by a panel identification componentas described with reference to FIGS. 6 through 9.

At 1410, the UE may determine whether simultaneous communications via afirst beam of the first set of beams and a second beam of the second setof beams is supported. The operations of 1410 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1410 may be performed by a panel capability component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 6 through 9.

At 1415, the UE may determine a maximum number of supported spatiallayers for each of the first beam and the second beam based at least inpart on determining that simultaneous communications via the first beamand the second beam is supported. The operations of 1415 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1415 may be performed by a panel capabilitycomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 6 through 9.

At 1420, the UE may transmit, to the base station, a first indicationthat simultaneous communications via the first beam and the second beamis supported and a second indication of the maximum number of supportedspatial layers for each of the first beam and the second beam. Theoperations of 1420 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1420 may beperformed by a panel capability component as described with reference toFIGS. 6 through 9.

At 1425, the UE may communicate with the base station using at least oneof the first beam or the second beam based on the transmitting the firstindication and the second indication. The operations of 1425 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1425 may be performed by a beamformingmanager as described with reference to FIGS. 6 through 9.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1500 that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations of method 1500 may be implemented by a UE 115 or itscomponents as described herein. For example, the operations of method1500 may be performed by a communications manager as described withreference to FIGS. 6 through 9. In some examples, a UE may execute a setof instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to performthe functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, a UE mayperform aspects of the functions described herein using special-purposehardware.

At 1505, the UE may identify two or more antenna panels forcommunications with a base station, each antenna panel of the two ormore antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of an associated setof beams for communications with the base station. The operations of1505 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may be performed by a panelidentification component as described with reference to FIGS. 6 through9.

At 1510, the UE may determine one or more panel-specific capabilitiesfor the two or more antenna panels that are configurable for differentpanel-specific operations for the communications with the base station.The operations of 1510 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510may be performed by a panel capability component as described withreference to FIGS. 6 through 9.

At 1515, the UE may transmit an indication to the base station of thetwo or more antenna panels and associated panel-specific operations. Theoperations of 1515 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 may beperformed by a beamforming manager as described with reference to FIGS.6 through 9.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1600 that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations of method 1600 may be implemented by a UE 115 or itscomponents as described herein. For example, the operations of method1600 may be performed by a communications manager as described withreference to FIGS. 6 through 9. In some examples, a UE may execute a setof instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to performthe functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, a UE mayperform aspects of the functions described herein using special-purposehardware.

At 1605, the UE may identify two or more antenna panels forcommunications with a base station, each antenna panel of the two ormore antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of an associated setof beams for communications with the base station. The operations of1605 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1605 may be performed by a panelidentification component as described with reference to FIGS. 6 through9.

At 1610, the UE may determine one or more panel-specific capabilitiesfor the two or more antenna panels that are configurable for differentpanel-specific operations for the communications with the base station.The operations of 1610 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1610may be performed by a panel capability component as described withreference to FIGS. 6 through 9.

At 1615, the UE may transmit an indication to the base station of thetwo or more antenna panels and associated panel-specific operations. Theoperations of 1615 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1615 may beperformed by a beamforming manager as described with reference to FIGS.6 through 9.

At 1620, the UE may determine that simultaneous communications usingbeams associated with different antenna panels is supported based on oneor more of a hardware configuration of the UE, a predetermined rule forcommunications via multiple antenna panels, or any combinations thereof.The operations of 1620 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1620may be performed by a panel capability component as described withreference to FIGS. 6 through 9.

At 1625, the UE may transmit, the base station, an indication thatsimultaneous communications using beams associated with differentantenna panels is supported by the UE. The operations of 1625 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1625 may be performed by a panel capabilitycomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 6 through 9.

At 1630, the UE may receive configuration information from the basestation that enables simultaneous communications via multiple antennapanels. The operations of 1630 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1630may be performed by a configuration manager as described with referenceto FIGS. 6 through 9.

At 1635, the UE may initiate a beam training procedure to determinebeamforming parameters for a first beam associated with a first antennapanel and a second beam associated with a second antenna panel that areto be used for simultaneous communications with the base station. Theoperations of 1635 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1635 may beperformed by a beam training component as described with reference toFIGS. 6 through 9.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations of method 1700 may be implemented by a base station 105 orits components as described herein. For example, the operations ofmethod 1700 may be performed by a communications manager as describedwith reference to FIGS. 10 through 13. In some examples, a base stationmay execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements ofthe base station to perform the functions described herein. Additionallyor alternatively, a base station may perform aspects of the functionsdescribed herein using special-purpose hardware.

At 1705, the base station may identify a UE that is to establishcommunications with the base station using one or more of a first set ofbeams associated with a first antenna panel and a second set of beamsassociated with a second antenna panel, each beam of the first set ofbeams and the second set of beams having different beamformingcharacteristics for communications with the UE. The operations of 1705may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1705 may be performed by abeamforming manager as described with reference to FIGS. 10 through 13.

At 1710, the base station may determine whether simultaneouscommunications via a first beam of the first set of beams and a secondbeam of the second set of beams is supported. The operations of 1710 maybe performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1710 may be performed by a panelcapability component as described with reference to FIGS. 10 through 13.

At 1715, the base station may communicate with the UE using at least oneof the first beam or the second beam based on the determining. Theoperations of 1715 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1715 may beperformed by a beamforming manager as described with reference to FIGS.10 through 13.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1800 that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations of method 1800 may be implemented by a base station 105 orits components as described herein. For example, the operations ofmethod 1800 may be performed by a communications manager as describedwith reference to FIGS. 10 through 13. In some examples, a base stationmay execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements ofthe base station to perform the functions described herein. Additionallyor alternatively, a base station may perform aspects of the functionsdescribed herein using special-purpose hardware.

At 1805, the base station may identify a UE that is to establishcommunications with the base station using two or more sets of beamsassociated with two or more antenna panels at the UE. The operations of1805 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1805 may be performed by abeamforming manager as described with reference to FIGS. 10 through 13.

At 1810, the base station may receive an indication from the UE thatindicates the two or more antenna panels and one or more associatedpanel-specific operations of each of the two or more antenna panels. Theoperations of 1810 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1810 may beperformed by a panel identification component as described withreference to FIGS. 10 through 13.

At 1815, the base station may identify, based on the indication from theUE, two or more antenna panels for communications with a base station,each antenna panel of the two or more antenna panels configured totransmit a beam of an associated set of beams for communications withthe base station, and one or more panel-specific capabilities for thetwo or more antenna panels that are configurable for differentpanel-specific operations for communications with the UE. The operationsof 1815 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Insome examples, aspects of the operations of 1815 may be performed by apanel capability component as described with reference to FIGS. 10through 13.

At 1820, the base station may establish communications with the UE viaone or more beams using one or more of the antenna panels based on thepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels. Theoperations of 1820 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1820 may beperformed by a beamforming manager as described with reference to FIGS.10 through 13.

FIG. 19 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1900 that supportsantenna panel capability determination and indication in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations of method 1900 may be implemented by a base station 105 orits components as described herein. For example, the operations ofmethod 1900 may be performed by a communications manager as describedwith reference to FIGS. 10 through 13. In some examples, a base stationmay execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements ofthe base station to perform the functions described herein. Additionallyor alternatively, a base station may perform aspects of the functionsdescribed herein using special-purpose hardware.

At 1905, the base station may identify a UE that is to establishcommunications with the base station using two or more sets of beamsassociated with two or more antenna panels at the UE. The operations of1905 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1905 may be performed by abeamforming manager as described with reference to FIGS. 10 through 13.

At 1910, the base station may receive an indication from the UE thatindicates the two or more antenna panels and one or more associatedpanel-specific operations of each of the two or more antenna panels. Theoperations of 1910 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1910 may beperformed by a panel identification component as described withreference to FIGS. 10 through 13.

At 1915, the base station may identify, based on the indication from theUE, two or more antenna panels for communications with a base station,each antenna panel of the two or more antenna panels configured totransmit a beam of an associated set of beams for communications withthe base station, and one or more panel-specific capabilities for thetwo or more antenna panels that are configurable for differentpanel-specific operations for communications with the UE. The operationsof 1915 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Insome examples, aspects of the operations of 1915 may be performed by apanel capability component as described with reference to FIGS. 10through 13.

At 1920, the base station may establish communications with the UE viaone or more beams using one or more of the antenna panels based on thepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels. Theoperations of 1920 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1920 may beperformed by a beamforming manager as described with reference to FIGS.10 through 13.

At 1925, the base station may receive an indication from the UE thatsimultaneous communications using beams associated with differentantenna panels is supported by the UE. The operations of 1925 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1925 may be performed by a panel capabilitycomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 10 through 13.

At 1930, the base station may transmit configuration information to theUE that enables simultaneous communications via multiple antenna panels.The operations of 1930 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1930may be performed by a configuration manager as described with referenceto FIGS. 10 through 13.

At 1935, the base station may initiate a beam training procedure todetermine beamforming parameters for a first beam associated with afirst antenna panel and a second beam associated with a second antennapanel that are to be used for simultaneous communications with the basestation. The operations of 1935 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of1935 may be performed by a beam training component as described withreference to FIGS. 10 through 13.

It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possibleimplementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearrangedor otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunications systems such as code division multiple access (CDMA),time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access(FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), singlecarrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and other systems.A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as CDMA2000,Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000,IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Releases may be commonly referredto as CDMA2000 1×, 1×, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to asCDMA2000 1×EV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includesWideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA system mayimplement a radio technology such as Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM).

An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS). LTE, LTE-A, and LTE-A Pro are releasesof UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR,and GSM are described in documents from the organization named “3rdGeneration Partnership Project” (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are describedin documents from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject 2” (3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for thesystems and radio technologies mentioned herein as well as other systemsand radio technologies. While aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NRsystem may be described for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-APro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, thetechniques described herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro,or NR applications.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEswith service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell maybe associated with a lower-powered base station, as compared with amacro cell, and a small cell may operate in the same or different (e.g.,licensed, unlicensed, etc.) frequency bands as macro cells. Small cellsmay include pico cells, femto cells, and micro cells according tovarious examples. A pico cell, for example, may cover a small geographicarea and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptionswith the network provider. A femto cell may also cover a smallgeographic area (e.g., a home) and may provide restricted access by UEshaving an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closedsubscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, and the like). An eNBfor a macro cell may be referred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a smallcell may be referred to as a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto eNB, ora home eNB. An eNB may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four,and the like) cells, and may also support communications using one ormultiple component carriers.

The wireless communications systems described herein may supportsynchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, thebase stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions fromdifferent base stations may be approximately aligned in time. Forasynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frametiming, and transmissions from different base stations may not bealigned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for eithersynchronous or asynchronous operations.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any ofa variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chipsthat may be referenced throughout the description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices(e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiplemicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described herein can be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storagemedia and communication media including any medium that facilitatestransfer of a computer program from one place to another. Anon-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that can beaccessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media mayinclude RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flashmemory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othernon-transitory medium that can be used to carry or store desired programcode means in the form of instructions or data structures and that canbe accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection isproperly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the softwareis transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using acoaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line(DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave,then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, orwireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD),floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items(e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or“one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, alist of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BCor ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “basedon” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions.For example, an exemplary step that is described as “based on conditionA” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, asused herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manneras the phrase “based at least in part on.”

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label, or othersubsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appendeddrawings, describes example configurations and does not represent allthe examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of theclaims. The term “exemplary” used herein means “serving as an example,instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous overother examples.” The detailed description includes specific details forthe purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques.These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shownin block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of thedescribed examples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person skilled in the artto make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosurewill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other variations withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is notlimited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to beaccorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communication at a userequipment (UE), comprising: identifying two or more antenna panels forcommunications with a base station, each antenna panel of the two ormore antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of an associated setof beams for communications with the base station; determining one ormore panel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels thatare configurable for different panel-specific operations for thecommunications with the base station, the one or more panel-specificcapabilities including a supported number of spatial layers for each ofthe two or more antenna panels; and transmitting, to the base station,an indication of the two or more antenna panels and associatedpanel-specific operations and the supported number of spatial layers foreach of the two or more antenna panels.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the transmitting comprises: transmitting an indication thatpanel specific operation is supported and one or more of a number ofantenna panels, a number of beams in the associated set of beams perpanel, a number of spatial layers associated with each beam or antennapanel, an indication of beam and panel combinations and correspondingspatial layers, or any combinations thereof.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the number of beams in each set of beams correspond to a numberof different reference signal resources, different reference signalresource ports, different reference signal resource sets, differentspatial relations, different spatial filters, or any combinationsthereof.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises:determining that simultaneous communications using beams associated withdifferent antenna panels is supported based at least in part on one ormore of a hardware configuration of the UE, a predetermined rule forcommunications via multiple antenna panels, or any combinations thereof.5. The method of claim 4, wherein the transmitting comprises:transmitting, to the base station, an indication that the simultaneouscommunications using beams associated with different antenna panels issupported by the UE.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the indicationthat the simultaneous communications using beams associated withdifferent antenna panels is supported by the UE comprises one or more ofan indication that any beams from any set of different panels supportsimultaneous communications, an indication that one or more antennapanels do not support simultaneous communications, an indication of anumber of panels that can support simultaneous communications andcorresponding panel identifications, an indication one or more subsetsof each set of beams that support simultaneous communications, or anycombinations thereof.
 7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:receiving configuration information from the base station that enablessimultaneous communications via multiple antenna panels; and initiatinga beam training procedure to determine beamforming parameters for afirst beam associated with a first antenna panel and a second beamassociated with a second antenna panel that are to be used forsimultaneous communications with the base station.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the determining comprises: determining that a hardwareconfiguration of the UE does not support simultaneous communications viamultiple antenna panels, and wherein the indication transmitted to thebase station indicates that simultaneous communications using beamsassociated with different antenna panels is unsupported by the UE. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises: determining anumber of supported spatial layers for each antenna panel that supportssimultaneous communications and a maximum number of supported spatiallayers across all antenna panels that support simultaneouscommunications; and wherein the indication transmitted to the basestation indicates the number of supported spatial layers for eachantenna panel and the maximum number of supported spatial layers. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises: determiningone or more combinations of spatial layers across each supportedcombination of antenna panels that support simultaneous communications,and a maximum number of supported spatial layers across all antennapanels that support simultaneous communications; and wherein theindication transmitted to the base station indicates the one or morecombinations of spatial layers and the maximum number of supportedspatial layers.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining andthe transmitting are performed separately for each of two or moremillimeter wave (mmW) frequency bands.
 12. A method for wirelesscommunication at a base station, comprising: identifying a userequipment (UE) that is to establish communications with the base stationusing two or more sets of beams associated with two or more antennapanels at the UE; receiving, from the UE, an indication that indicatesthe two or more antenna panels one or more associated panel-specificoperations of each of the two or more antenna panels, and a supportednumber of spatial layers for each of the two or more antenna panels;identifying, based at least in part on the indication from the UE, thetwo or more antenna panels of the UE for the communications with thebase station, each antenna panel of the two or more antenna panelsconfigured to transmit a beam of an associated set of beams for thecommunications with the base station, and one or more panel-specificcapabilities for the two or more antenna panels of the UE that areconfigurable for different panel-specific operations for communicationswith the UE, the one or more panel-specific capabilities including thesupported number of spatial layers for each of the two or more antennapanels; and establishing the communications with the UE via one or morebeams using one or more of the two or more antenna panels based at leastin part on the one or more panel-specific capabilities for the two ormore antenna panels.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the receivingcomprises: receiving an indication from the UE that simultaneouscommunications using beams associated with different antenna panels issupported by the UE.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the indicationthat the simultaneous communications using beams associated withdifferent antenna panels is supported by the UE comprises one or more ofan indication that any beams from any set of different panels supportsimultaneous communications, an indication that one or more antennapanels do not support simultaneous communications, an indication of anumber of panels that can support simultaneous communications andcorresponding panel identifications, an indication one or more subsetsof each set of beams that support simultaneous communications, or anycombinations thereof.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:transmitting configuration information to the UE that enablessimultaneous communications via multiple antenna panels; and initiatinga beam training procedure to determine beamforming parameters for afirst beam associated with a first antenna panel and a second beamassociated with a second antenna panel that are to be used forsimultaneous communications with the base station.
 16. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the receiving comprises: receiving an indication fromthe UE of one or more combinations of spatial layers across eachsupported combination of antenna panels that support simultaneouscommunications and a maximum number of supported spatial layers acrossall antenna panels that support simultaneous communications.
 17. Anapparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE),comprising: a processor, a memory coupled with the processor; andinstructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor tocause the apparatus to: identify two or more antenna panels forcommunications with a base station, each antenna panel of the two ormore antenna panels configured to transmit a beam of an associated setof beams for communications with the base station; determine one or morepanel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels that areconfigurable for different panel-specific operations for thecommunications with the base station, the one or more panel-specificcapabilities including a supported number of antenna ports for each ofthe two or more antenna panels; and transmit, to the base station, anindication of the two or more antenna panels and associatedpanel-specific operations and the supported number of antenna ports foreach of the two or more antenna panels.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17,wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor tocause the apparatus to: transmit one or more of a number of antennapanels, a number of beams in the associated set of beams per panel, anumber of spatial layers associated with each beam or antenna panel, anindication of beam and panel combinations and corresponding spatiallayers, or any combinations thereof.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18,wherein the number of beams in each set of beams correspond to a numberof different reference signal resources, different reference signalresource ports, different reference signal resource sets, differentspatial relations, different spatial filters, or any combinationsthereof.
 20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions arefurther executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: determinethat simultaneous communications using beams associated with differentantenna panels is supported based at least in part on one or more of ahardware configuration of the UE, a predetermined rule forcommunications via multiple antenna panels, or any combinations thereof.21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the instructions are furtherexecutable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit, thebase station, an indication that the simultaneous communications usingbeams associated with different antenna panels is supported by the UE.22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the indication that thesimultaneous communications using beams associated with differentantenna panels is supported by the UE comprises one or more of anindication that any beams from any set of different panels supportsimultaneous communications, an indication that one or more antennapanels do not support simultaneous communications, an indication of anumber of panels that can support simultaneous communications andcorresponding panel identifications, an indication one or more subsetsof each set of beams that support simultaneous communications, or anycombinations thereof.
 23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein theinstructions are further executable by the processor to cause theapparatus to: determine that a hardware configuration of the UE does notsupport simultaneous communications via multiple antenna panels, andwherein the indication transmitted to the base station indicates thatsimultaneous communications using beams associated with differentantenna panels is unsupported by the UE.
 24. The apparatus of claim 17,wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor tocause the apparatus to: determine a number of supported spatial layersfor each antenna panel that supports simultaneous communications and amaximum number of supported spatial layers across all antenna panelsthat support simultaneous communications; and wherein the indicationtransmitted to the base station indicates the number of supportedspatial layers for each antenna panel and the maximum number ofsupported spatial layers.
 25. An apparatus for wireless communication ata base station, comprising: a processor, a memory coupled with theprocessor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by theprocessor to cause the apparatus to: identify a user equipment (UE) thatis to establish communications with the base station using two or moresets of beams associated with two or more antenna panels at the UE;receive, from the UE, an indication that indicates the two or moreantenna panels, one or more associated panel-specific operations of eachof the two or more antenna panels, and a supported number of antennaports for each of the two or more antenna panels; identify, based atleast in part on the indication from the UE, the two or more antennapanels of the UE for the communications with the base station, eachantenna panel of the two or more antenna panels configured to transmit abeam of an associated set of beams for the communications with the basestation, and one or more panel-specific capabilities for the two or moreantenna panels of the UE that are configurable for differentpanel-specific operations for communications with the UE, the one ormore panel-specific capabilities including the supported number ofantenna ports for each of the two or more antenna panels; and establishthe communications with the UE via one or more beams using one or moreof the two or more antenna panels based at least in part on the one ormore panel-specific capabilities for the two or more antenna panels. 26.The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the instructions are furtherexecutable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive anindication from the UE of one or more of a number of antenna panels, anumber of beams in the associated set of beams per panel, a number ofspatial layers associated with each beam or antenna panel, an indicationof beam and panel combinations and corresponding spatial layers, or anycombinations thereof.
 27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein theinstructions are further executable by the processor to cause theapparatus to: receive an indication from the UE that the UE does notsupport simultaneous communications via multiple antenna panels.
 28. Theapparatus of claim 25, wherein the instructions are further executableby the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive an indication fromthe UE of a number of supported spatial layers for each antenna panelthat supports simultaneous communications and a maximum number ofsupported spatial layers across all antenna panels that supportsimultaneous communications.
 29. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein theinstructions are further executable by the processor to cause theapparatus to: receive an indication from the UE of one or morecombinations of spatial layers across each supported combination ofantenna panels that support simultaneous communications and a maximumnumber of supported spatial layers across all antenna panels thatsupport simultaneous communications.
 30. The method of claim 1, whereinthe one or more panel-specific capabilities include a number ofresources for sounding reference signal (SRS) beam management for eachof the two or more antenna panels, and wherein the transmittingcomprises: transmitting an indication of the number of resources for SRSbeam management for each of the two or more antenna panels.